In an interview in the London Sunday Telegraph today [www.telegraph.co.uk/news] Imran Khan the famous ex- Pakistan cricketer and politician, talks amongst other things, about the war on terror.
"The impression I get from talking to British Muslims is that the problem of radicalisation in Britain is a lot to do with Islamophobia, they think it is increasingly tinged with racism" Kahn goes on to say " In those areas in the north of England where Islamophobia and racism is worse, that is where there is more likelihood of Muslims joining a radical Islamic movement "
Well Mr Kahn, you join the large number of Muslims who are in a state of denial. If non-Muslims went to a Muslim country, say Pakistan and behaved in the way that some extremists are doing in the UK, they would be lucky to escape with their lives. To carry out acts of terror, and to preach hatred in the country you live in, you have to be very naive, to think you are going to be liked, and that there will be no prejudice against you. For goodness sake, when are Muslims going to get into the real world, and realise they are the problem, not those around them.
starrman
5 Comments
If a kid in Christian town in the USA goes nuts with a gun and kills his class mates and teachers, you don't call him a Christian murderer / fruit cake. If a drunk guy, supposedly Christian, in the uk causes a car crash by his driving, killing a family, you dont report it as a white Christian guilty of manslaughter. What is this need to prefix with a religion as a way to define someone, when the word "extremist" deals with that adequately.
Extremism is exactly that. Its not indicative of the whole. The uk as a nation has football / soccer as its main sport. Some supporters of that sport cause trouble. Hooligans. Sectarian chants. Racism. Does that mean the whole of the UK should be tarred with the same brush? No!
The majority of Muslims do not see these extremists as part of what they themselves are... any more than the family guy going to the game sees himself as part of a bunch of thugs and bigots causing grief. In reality the extremists cloathe themselves in whichever religion they can use in an attempt to justify their actions. There's a saying : "If God didn't exist man would invent him / her". Nowadays there are enough Gods about for any would be terrorist to swipe certain ideas out of context and go off on a spree!
People need to get a grip. To superimpose such a blanket idea, and indeed then seek to portray them as such, over such a large group of people is ridiculous.
There's another saying, If you're not part of the solution, your part of the problem. Alienating people because of their faith, and indeed a misconceived idea of what that faith stands for, is never going to be a part of the solution to extremism. Working from that saying, it seems pretty clear which way alienation does push the people on the recieving end.
And then, people wonder why there's a communication problem, and a lack of understanding.
I'm not Muslim, Christian, or a believer in any faith. I'm a person who looks at people and defines them by their individual characteristics. If people wish to live their lives believing in something, good on them. If they are of a different race, creed, or colour, great stuff! It all adds to the diversity. And if they want to go and harm people, kill people, etc, then i look upon them as people who have lost the ability to reason what's right and wrong, and are a danger to others. Its the individuals choice. Not their religion, colour, creed, sex etc.
When i read things like that which i'm commenting on, i just wish there were more people with the same outlook as myself. Then maybe some advances might be made in dealing with the problem, rather than creating an animosity which only serves to propagate it.
"If a kid in Christian town in the USA goes nuts with a gun and kills his class mates and teachers, you don't call him a Christian murderer / fruit cake. If a drunk guy, supposedly Christian, in the uk causes a car crash by his driving, killing a family, you dont report it as a white Christian guilty of manslaughter"
These are poor examples that are not equivalent to acts of Islamic extremism. Now lets say that a Christian kid went nuts with a gun, and at the same time screamed out that he/she was shooting people in the name of Jesus Christ. Then there might be some people more inclined to call him/her a Christian murderer -- more so if events like this started happening more frequently. Even if this did happen, very few would still call him a Christian murder, because Christians now have a long modern track record of not killing in the name of their religion -- so this person would not be taken seriously in that context.
While we can not judge all Muslims based on the violent acts of extremists, I also think non-extremist Muslims have a responsibility to deplore acts of violence committed by extremists in the name of Islam, and assist in whatever way they can to help clear up misunderstandings, and demonstrate that they are acting in a manner of good will that is in the interest of a free and sane society. To put the blame on others, or to remain silent gives the appearance of sympathizing with the extremists. I have heard some Muslims speak up, but I think there needs to be more.
I also agree with the original post in the sense that how can you not expect some people to react with prejudice when they fear continued acts of terrorism? Hopefully, reasonable minds on both sides can ultimately prevail.
You've kinda illustrated the point with the line "These are poor examples that are not equivalent to acts of Islamic extremism". Its not islamic extremism, its just extremism. The examples were given to show that anyone could pick a cause, were they so inclined. The fact that people might see them as bad examples is because we're not used to the idea of associating anything of that ilk.
I seem to remember lots of gun massacres involve people saying that they heard voices (usually of the devil) telling them to do it. The religions which create this entity are then never cited as having caused the acts (the devil / evil side is just as much a creation of a religion as is the "God" entity, and is therefore just as responsible for it), but instead the people are classed as insane. I tend to believe this is the same for anyone who goes out of their way to kill people. The same as a rapist is a rapist, and a murderer is a murderer. The motives of the individual are obviously floored, and ergo the supposed root of these motives cannot be blamed for the individuals irrationality.
Maybe its me. I look at us as a species. Humans. When i see crimes against humanity I dont blame us as a species. I blame the individuals which have somehow become deluded, or indeed allowed themselves to be manipulated. Extremism will always exist in all areas... people over eat, but we dont blame the food for tasting that good that it forced us to eat it. The concept is exactly the same, its just that we have hammered into us daily the expression "muslim extremists" or "Islamic extremists", so that we no longer find it laughable that followers of that way of life could do these kinds of things.
Hey Tequila... ty :) I love topics like these... lol Nice to have stuff which gets people to think!
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)