NAME CALLING IS STUPID

And There is No Such Thing as Islamophobia

“It is an easy thing to call names; any fool is equal to that ... and the weapon of vituperation is generally used by those who lack brains for argument or are upon the wrong side.”

Martha Finley

When I was a kid arguing with some other kid, you always knew when the game was over.  The first person to call you a name or to impugn you lost.  OK – sometimes, they would just start crying.  But the name-calling was always the last step before admitting defeat.

Nothing has changed as we became adults, except the name-callers don’t admit they’ve lost the argument. 

“Inside many liberals is a totalitarian screaming to get out. They don't like to have another point of view in the room that they don't squash and the way they try to squash it is by character assassination and name calling.”

David Horowitz

So easy to call someone racist or sexist.  Those are actual problems, but not as common as the Left wants to believe (or likes to accuse everyone of being).  However, there are so many who want to call us Islamophobic.

Islamophobia

Is this really a thing?  Let’s start with what a phobia is.  Phobias are irrational fears of a person, a thing or an activity.  Focus on the word “irrational.”  If you are afraid when someone points a gun at you, that’s not a phobia.  If get nervous when traversing a slippery and narrow path where a fall would probably kill you, that’s rational fear.  I’m phobic about snakes.  In most cases, that’s irrational as a. a picture can’t hurt me b. most of the snakes I see hiking aren’t dangerous and c. the rattlers are afraid of me too.

But being afraid of Islamic activity and people who want to kill us; that’s NOT a phobia.  While antisemitism is rife (and celebrated, even here) and Christians are slammed, progressives practically worship Muslims.  Just go back and listen to the loving and lulling tones of Obama and Clinton, speaking about how great Islam is.  In reality, Islam is NOT a religion; it is a political system wrapped up in religious clothes.  Read the Quran.  It dictates a government.  Not worthy of our First Amendment religious protection.

But even if you give it credence as a religion, look at reality.  First, look at what Islamists do in their own country.  This is a religion that preaches hate and death.  Many LGBTQ, etc., claim to align with them, but if any come to one of the Muslim-dominant countries, they will be executed.

I listened to a seminar given by a learned Muslim scholar; he told us that it isn’t just the terrorists we should fear.  It is also the vast majority of Muslims who support them and their causes.  Many of them long for the great Caliphate, where non-Muslims will convert (maybe), be taxed and treated as 2^nd-class citizens, or most likely, executed.

To be concerned about a religion like this is not hate and it is not a phobia.  It is a rational evaluation of a people and their beliefs.  That being said, many of us know practicing Muslims who deplore the worst practices of their religion, respect women and cleave to American values.  But too many do not.  It’s wise to have legitimate concerns about a Muslim you don’t know.  Approach it like a snake or spider you don’t recognize.  Or, as Ronald Reagan said, “Trust, but verify.”