… anybody criticize the religion of peace: Joyce Carol Oates sparks Twitter storm over Egypt remarks | Books | guardian.co.uk.
OK to say anything you want about Christianity, though, or Judaism. Hey, I know that most Muslims are perfectly decent people, serving God as best they can, just as most Catholic priests aren't child molesters. But just as the Church deserves the criticism it has received on the sex-abuse issue, so Islam deserves to be called on things like freelance beheadings and gang rapes.
Religion of all stripes should be challenged, but when your own anti-ideological viewpoint becomes just as blindly ideological, then you're part of the problem. Oates's remarkable ignorance about Islam, claiming that this "predominant religion" leads to rape, is a deeply imperialist generalization no less egregious than Joseph Conrad's imperialism or his view of Africa as "the other world." Oates offered a modest concession only after the public outcry. I was prepared to commend Oates for restating her position with recent criticisms in mind, but Oates, true to her sham intellectualism, had blocked me on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteI just find it odd how ready people are to jump to the defense of Islam. People claiming to be followers of the Prophet commit horrendous acts and the first reaction on the part of many is to object to any criticism of Islam. And I don't hear many Muslims leaping up to condemn the atrocities committed in the name of their faith. I keep being told to be afraid of Christians, but no Christians have bombed any marathons lately.
ReplyDeleteIf someone wants to commit evil, they are going to do it, regardless of what religion or ideology they subscribe to. But to lump all of religion -- whether Islam or Christianity -- into one fundamentalist bundle is a feeble and anti-intellectual position. And I say this as a committed atheist who is personally opposed to religion, but who, in the interest of civility, subscribes to Stephen Jay Gould's idea of nonoverlapping magisteria.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, both the Muslim Brotherhood and Chicago Muslims condemned the Boston bombings.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/egypts-muslim-brotherhood_n_3092135.html
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-21/news/ct-met-muslim-bombing-backlash-20130421_1_chicago-muslims-kareem-irfan-suspects
I'm sorry to hear of Debbie's illness and hope that she is doing better.
Thanks, Ed, for the kind thoughts re Debbie. And thanks for the info about the Muslim Brotherhood and the Chicago Muslims. Good for them. I hold no brief against Islam and think that those kill in the Prophet's do a profound disservice to Islam. So I guess we're pretty much in agreement.
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