Islamo-fascists and the KKK
I'm teaching a section on Islamic Civilization in my Humanities class tomorrow and I've been thinking a lot (in addition to the War on Terror thoughts) about Islamo-fascism and anticipating questions. Even though I'll be dealing mostly with the art and architecture, music, etc. I'm sure there will be questions about religious extremism.
What makes Islamo-fascism so dangerous? Why should we care? What's the difference? The best example I can draw from American Christianity is the KKK and the idiotic concept of the Curse of Ham (or the Curse of Cush) taken from the story of Noah in the Book of Genesis (9:20--25). Ham saw Noah's drunkenness and nakedness and God cursed Canaan -- Ham's son. Another son of Ham was Cush who is credited with fathering the people of Cush -- Ethiopia and eastern Africa. In a sinister bit of eisegesis, the KKK and other white racists in the 19th c. (perhaps it arose earlier, but that's beside this point) read into this story the idea that God had accursed Africans (read -- "Black people") and they were therefore sub-human (also using Darwinian ideas) and deserving of slavery, discrimination and were unfit to marry into the white race, etc, etc. Utter bullshit no doubt -- but a dangerous bit of scriptural interpretation.
Islamo-fascists -- Wahhabis especially -- do the same thing to their Koran. They read into it that Americans are the Great Satan and that suicide bombing of non-combatants is not just permissible, but encourgaed, etc. The main difference? Imaginge the KKK running an entire country -- say... the size of Saudi Arabia, having seemingly endless reserves of oil and money. The genesis of both movements comes from the same place -- ignorance and hatred. The impact of islamo-fascism is exponentially greater because it takes up a small but significant minority of 1.2 billon Muslims who are embeddded in the halls of power of many countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. These countries have nukes, armies, navies, universities and seminaries with which to inclucate their children and intimidate their neighbors and us. Also, their mainstream moderate leaders and rank and file refuse (either out of fear or ambivalence or a mixture) to call these radicals out.
Evangelicals in both the UK and the US eventually ended the slave trade and have lead the fight for civil rights in both countries for all Americans. ignorance gave way to knowledge -- through proper exegesis of Scripture -- "love they neighbor..." Christian voices cried out for the abolition of slavery, lynching, and Jim Crow that scarred this country. The KKK could not hide out in the churches for long. Though they still spout their tripe; they do not have government cache and the power and resources to terrorize Blacks at will as during Reconstruction.
Where are these voices in mainstream Islam? I know they're out there. Are they not getting air time? Are they being shouted down and intimidated? Radical islamo-fascism will thrive and grow unless Muslims of good will solve the problem. We can only kill or contain so many of these radicals. The problem has to be dealt with by those who control access to Islam's holy scriptures and by those who wield gov't power in those countires where this ideology thrives.
What makes Islamo-fascism so dangerous? Why should we care? What's the difference? The best example I can draw from American Christianity is the KKK and the idiotic concept of the Curse of Ham (or the Curse of Cush) taken from the story of Noah in the Book of Genesis (9:20--25). Ham saw Noah's drunkenness and nakedness and God cursed Canaan -- Ham's son. Another son of Ham was Cush who is credited with fathering the people of Cush -- Ethiopia and eastern Africa. In a sinister bit of eisegesis, the KKK and other white racists in the 19th c. (perhaps it arose earlier, but that's beside this point) read into this story the idea that God had accursed Africans (read -- "Black people") and they were therefore sub-human (also using Darwinian ideas) and deserving of slavery, discrimination and were unfit to marry into the white race, etc, etc. Utter bullshit no doubt -- but a dangerous bit of scriptural interpretation.
Islamo-fascists -- Wahhabis especially -- do the same thing to their Koran. They read into it that Americans are the Great Satan and that suicide bombing of non-combatants is not just permissible, but encourgaed, etc. The main difference? Imaginge the KKK running an entire country -- say... the size of Saudi Arabia, having seemingly endless reserves of oil and money. The genesis of both movements comes from the same place -- ignorance and hatred. The impact of islamo-fascism is exponentially greater because it takes up a small but significant minority of 1.2 billon Muslims who are embeddded in the halls of power of many countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. These countries have nukes, armies, navies, universities and seminaries with which to inclucate their children and intimidate their neighbors and us. Also, their mainstream moderate leaders and rank and file refuse (either out of fear or ambivalence or a mixture) to call these radicals out.
Evangelicals in both the UK and the US eventually ended the slave trade and have lead the fight for civil rights in both countries for all Americans. ignorance gave way to knowledge -- through proper exegesis of Scripture -- "love they neighbor..." Christian voices cried out for the abolition of slavery, lynching, and Jim Crow that scarred this country. The KKK could not hide out in the churches for long. Though they still spout their tripe; they do not have government cache and the power and resources to terrorize Blacks at will as during Reconstruction.
Where are these voices in mainstream Islam? I know they're out there. Are they not getting air time? Are they being shouted down and intimidated? Radical islamo-fascism will thrive and grow unless Muslims of good will solve the problem. We can only kill or contain so many of these radicals. The problem has to be dealt with by those who control access to Islam's holy scriptures and by those who wield gov't power in those countires where this ideology thrives.
posted by Troy at 9:06 AM
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