Islamophobia Definition
Islamophobia is a rational fear of Islam, Muslims or Islamic culture. Islamophobics rightly base their fear on the proven fact that Islam is directly opposed to equality, tolerance, democracy and almost every concept held dear in civilized societies.
Islamophobics realize that most Muslims are not a direct danger to western civilization because most Muslims do not live in western countries, yet.
Islamophobia is not a form of racism since Islamophobics even have a rational fear of Muslims of their own race and ethnic identity. Islamophobics who are of Indian descent fear Muslims who are of the exact same race. There are even millions of Arab Islamophobics who despise, hate, and fear Muslim Arabs and rightly so. Racism is no component of Islamophobia.
Islamophobia is not a form of xenophobia since Islamophobics even have a rational fear of Muslims born in their home country.
Islamophobia has nothing to do with racism, bigotry, or unjustified intolerance because those prejudices are usually based on a set of negative assumptions of an entire group to the detriment of members of that group. Islamophobia is not based on negative assumptions, rather on news reports and words and deeds of Muslims.
Some people have made the silly assertion that the rise of Islamophobia has contributed to the negative views about Islam and Muslims in the West. This is sheer nonsense since most Americans never even bothered formulating an opinion about Muslims one way or another until Muslims started coming into our country in great numbers. It is in fact, how Muslims act that has contributed to the rise of Islamophobia.
Was it the rise of Naziphobia that contributed to the negative views about Nazism and Nazis in the last century or was it the actions of Nazis that contributed to the rise of Naziphobia?
Some morons have likened modern Islamophobia with the antisemitism of the 1930s (1); however, Islamophobia is based on the truth and on a real book, the Qur'an, showing that Muslims in fact do want the world to be dominated by Islam, while the antisemitism in the 1930s was based on lies and a fabricated book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, purporting to show that Jews want to control the world.
Then there are some who say that the rise in Islamophobia has led to increased attacks against Muslims. This is another Muslim lie (2). Muslims are one of the least likely of groups to be singled out for hate crimes.
As I wrote in my article The difference between antisemitism and Islamophobia: "So while anti-Semites rely on lies to justify their fear and loathing of Jews, Islamophobes like myself rely on the truth to justify their fear and loathing of Islam.."
The term Islamophobia most often appears in discourse when a Muslim or a multi-cultural weasel cannot supply a cogent response to an accusation that Islam is a primitive, violent, savage, brutal, barbaric ideology bent on world domination, subjugation, and conversion. This is how it usually appears in print:
Q: How do you explain that in the Shariah the punishment for abandoning Islam is death - isn't that barbaric?
A: You sir, are Islamophobic.
Q: I just read that a suicide bomber killed at least 21 Christian worshipers and wounded at least 97 others in Egypt yesterday (3).
A: You sir, are Islamophobic.
That is the only use for the term - it is simply a way to avoid saying, "Uh, ah, mmm, uh."
ENDNOTES
(1):
The Sunday Times, 12 Sept 2009, Fascism fears: John Denham speaks out over clashes
John Denham has spoken out against anti-Islamics for trying to provoke violence in Britain's streets.
The communites secretary spoke about yesterday's clashes involving nationalists and Muslims at a London mosque and drew comparisons with the anti-Semitic marches of the 1930s, led by Oswald Mosley's 'blackshirts' and the British Union of Fascists. He said the anti-Islamics were using similar tactics to incite violence and while he qualified that these events were not on the same scale as British fascism of the last century, he said they needed to be taken seriously.
(2):
Weasel Zippers, Islamophobia FAIL: .016% of Hate Crimes in New York Directed at Muslims
Did you hear about the surge in hate crimes in New York? Bias against Muslims is the driving force, proving what a horribly victimized minority they are.
Just kidding.
Hate crimes are up 14 percent across the state, but those against Muslims are a tiny fraction. Of the 683 reported to police in 2009, only 11 targeted Muslims. Yes, 11. In 2008, there were eight.
Compare that with the 251 against Jews, or 37 percent of the total. Anti-black crimes were down slightly, to 144, or 21 percent of the total.
The biggest rise was in crimes against gays, from 70 to 107.
Remember those numbers the next time someone, maybe someone in City Hall or the White House, warns against a rising tide of Islamophobia. Use the facts to shut them up
(3):
Bare Naked Islam's Weblog, EGYPT: Police attack relatives of Christian Copts killed last night in Muslim Attack
As hundreds of Coptic Christian worshipers were leaving a New Year’s Mass at Saints Church shortly after midnight, a bomber stepped out of a car and detonated himself in the crowd, according to the Interior Ministry. Egyptian officials and Muslim leaders quickly condemned the attack.
A graphic video of the bombing shared on YouTube showed terrified people running out of the church to investigate as others screamed in terror. At least one car was in flames. Blood-stained sheets covered the dead.
