Why People Fear Islam

[Valin]

Harry's Place

Mar. 28 2019

Brunei is introducing Sharia Law. Topping the list of cruel – but sadly not unusual – punishments under this penal system is the stoning to death of gay people, and adulterers. Limb-amputation for crimes such as theft, and corporal punishment for lesser transgressions are also part of the code.

Brunei joins ten other countries in imposing the death penalty for homosexuality. All of these countries are Muslim-majority countries. A map of the world where lesbian and gay people are criminalised and can expect to face harsh penalties is essentially a map of the Islamic world. A similar map can be drawn showing the worst oppression of women. It goes without saying, almost any credible list of the worst human rights offenders on Planet Earth will feature a majority of Islamic countries.

This is why people in the West fear Islamic immigration. It is not about racism and it is not about prejudice. Obviously there is a small racist contingent who oppose any and all immigration, particularly from countries with different skin colours, but there is nowhere near the level of opposition to immigration from Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, or Secular Humanists and Atheists, from anywhere in the world. We have to be honest about why this is the case.

If we’re honest, it is because we fear – for good reason – the regressive social attitudes and violent punishments for moral crimes that the Islamic world imposes.

(Snip)

This is why, to conclude, the term “anti-Muslim bigotry” as promoted by Maajid Nawaz makes more sense. Polls may tell us a prevailing community attitude, but they tell us nothing about the views of private individuals. What’s more, not all Muslims interpret their religion in the same way. There are liberal Muslims, and there conservative Muslims who nonetheless take a live-and-let live approach to secular society. The good news is that while it is true, according to polls, that over half of British Muslims would like to outlaw homosexuality, a sizeable minority – “almost half” – do not, whether they approve of it or not. Part of the problem affecting wider public perception of Islam in Britain is that these Muslims are not well represented in formal institutions – it the the MCBs, the MPACs, the Cages and the 8Pillars  groups who end up all over our TV screens. It is beliefs, and institutions, that ought to be fought, not individual people whose personal views cannot be guessed by the way they dress, or their accent, or the religion the belong to. And, it goes without saying, that violence is hardly ever the answer – and certainly not in a civil society.

But speech almost always is, and we need a great deal more frank and open discussion about how the barbarism in many Muslim-majority countries, and socially regressive attitudes in sections of the British Muslim community, are driving fear and loathing of Islam.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Mecca You Have A Problem.