Phobic My Eye!
One of the left's best tricks, in my opinion - and one the right falls for again and again - is demonizing perfectly reasonable actions and opinions by giving them sinister names. A good example is the feminist complaint that men "objectify women," when they admire their beauty. This didn't catch on over the long term for the same reason coffee health scares never catch on - because no one's going to give it up. A more successful example is "racial profiling." I'm sorry, but if crimes of some kind are primarily being committed by a certain race, the proper name for "racial profiling," is "good police work."
But the most dangerous one on the market right now--being bruited about especially in the Ground Zero Mosque affair--is "Islamophobia." The dictionary defines "phobia" as an irrational fear. There is nothing irrational about being afraid of a religion currently cancerous with violence, bigotry and triumphalism. Instead of trying to defend ourselves against the charge, we ought to challenge the phrase itself wherever it occurs. It's not a condemnation of all Muslims to say that Islam has a major problem adjusting to a world of liberty and multi-culturalism. It's just the simple truth.
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Jul '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Let us not forget where the rhetorical/political formulation came from: the word homophobia was invented to suggest that the reason straight men were uneasy about gays was that we secretly feared we might have our own suppressed homoerotic desires.
So does Islamophobia mean I have hidden longings to go into a Mosque and put my face uncomfortably close to some Muslim's behind?
I'm so confused...
Jun '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
I'm not Islamophobic, but I'm a little Shariaphobic. I like my head. I don't want lose it for drawing cartoons.
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Nicely stated, Drew, and this little litany of dates has begun running through my mind every time anyone employs the term "Islamophobia":
The Battle of Poitiers, 732. The conquest of Constantinople, 1453. The first siege of Vienna, 1529. The Battle of Lepanto, 1571. The second siege of Vienna, 1683.
What we have here, I'm very much afraid--yes, afraid--is...a pattern.
Jul '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Hearing Mrs Imam Rauf this weekend, one gets the feeling that even islamophobia ain't what it used to be. Apparently, the opposition to the GMZ has now "metastasized into anti-semitism." Given the Koran's position on the Jews, that is pretty rich. How long before she and her ilk run out words to demonize anyone who refuses to submit to their god?
Re: Phobic My Eye!
It might be too late to challenge the phobia suffix, but maybe we can employ it as they do. They are, after all Foxophobic, Palinophobic and Rushophobic. They also suffer from Free Market Phobia, Reduced Spending Phobia and Tax Cut Phobia. I'd go on, but I suffer from Litany Phobia.
Jul '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Peter Robinson: Nicely stated, Drew, and this little litany of dates has begun running through my mind every time anyone employs the term "Islamophobia":
The Battle of Poitiers, 732. The conquest of Constantinople, 1453. The first siege of Vienna, 1529. The Battle of Lepanto, 1571. The second siege of Vienna, 1683.
What we have here, I'm very much afraid--yes, afraid--is...a pattern. · Aug 23 at 11:16am
Cordoba, Sicily, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Greece, the Balkans, India, Persia, Armenia, the partition of India, Cyprus, Bangladesh...and the beat goes on.
May '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Occasionally fear is healthy, like being afraid of putting your hand on a hot stove. Or preparing for threats. There's a reason for that instinct. Though "Islamophobia" is a bit too wide-ranging.
Nonono, Pat, on the right we use different terms. Like "Derangement Syndrome". Cause I still can't get any lib pal to state that the GZM is a good idea, but they still have to support in because cons are agin it.
May '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
More to your point, genuine phobias are considered conditions of mental health, not a moral failing. Is acrophobia or claustrophobia publicly denounced?
Many folks suffer from intense fear of all snakes or spiders. Some of those creatures are genuinely dangerous, even deadly, but not many. However, even people who have never been bitten are fearful. This isn't some shameful prejudice, just human nature.
Aug '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Round two of "Pin the Tail on the Tea Party and Glenn Beck,et al"
Surprising they didn't use John Lewis to trot this out too. Or Emanuel Cleaver.
Just where is their "resident muslim apologist " ? Funny, seems that there aren't enough muslims to cover this job. Muslim demographic has an unemployment of negative 2%, which means they're all working more than one job. Didn't NASA find any scientific accomplishments from those guys yet ? This is taking some time !
They probably lost the rolodex listing for the resident apologist. Appears he changed his name from "X" back to Smith before he married young Ms. Shabazz, nee Jones.
Jun '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
We are all phobic bigots now. The return of Spartacus. (http://tinyurl.com/spartacu)
I always wondered why, when over 90% of the illegal immigrants in the southwest are latino and most of them are Mexicans, why it is considered racial profiling to ask latino/Mexican folks for proof of citizenship, especially when they are being questioned by police for some other reason. First of all, I have never heard of a human race called Latino. Secondly, as Andrew says, it's just good police work. If a bank got robbed and all 30 witnesses said the thieves were two "white" guys, I suspect that all hell would break loose if the cops began stopping "black" women and questioning them about the robbery. Why aren't the cops stopping the "white"
Edited on Aug 23, 2010 at 12:26pmfolks? Ah, but what if all 30 witnesses said the perps were two "black" men and the cops began stopping only cars with two "black" men inside? Wouldn't thqt be proper? Or do some people expect to have it both ways? Americans are very sensible about these issues. Polls always support the common sense of immigration control and the sence of utter depravity that is sharia.
May '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Where were you guys when I was all alone defending myself last night on the "Sunday News Shows: Blago, the Mosque, and Karzai" post? Normally I have no trouble standing up for myself but I was so demoralized after watching the reporting on the mosque protest that I ended up leaving the schoolyard with my jacks & jump rope.
I just caught a few minutes of Rush in the car and he pointed out something new (?) from the Drive-By Style Book. Not only is it no longer the Ground Zero mosque but now it seems that the Twin Towers merely "collapsed".
One more thing. I know I shouldn't judge people by the way they look but I can't help but laugh out loud when I see photos of obvious leftists carrying signs that say things like "Religious Freedom". Now the people pictured may be card carrying Evangelicals but the left screaming for religious tolerance is rich.
May '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
I had been guessing for some time that the term originated with Doug Hooper of Duluth, Minnesota, now known as "Ibrahim Hooper" of CAIR. But I was wrong- the first major public reference may have come a bit earlier from another Usual Suspect who has delighted for many years in lecturing us regarding our failings:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sgsm9637.doc.htm
I admit to being confused, however. One minute, regarding some politically-correct interest group, I am a "hater" for not giving in to the group's demands, the next, I am irrationally terrified of them.
Hater, terrified, hater, terrified. Which will it be today, people?
Aug '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Andrew, you're so right. Bravo.
Pat, you are spot on:
"It might be too late to challenge the phobia suffix, but maybe we can employ it as they do. They are, after all Foxophobic, Palinophobic and Rushophobic. They also suffer from Free Market Phobia, Reduced Spending Phobia and Tax Cut Phobia. I'd go on, but I suffer from Litany Phobia."
Projection - whereby a group or individual accuses others of the very crime or tactic they themselves are guilty of - runs rampant and unchecked through the Progressive/Statist ranks and the Regime Media.
When someone who sees everything through the prism of race loudly attacks others for their imagined bigotry, beginning every discussion with an accusation of "racism!", that person is a racist in my mind.
Gaining control of language, defining terms, and using them as weapons to destroy opponents is a stated tactic of Saul Alinsky and all the tyrants he admires; Mao, Stalin, Lenin, et al. It was profitably applied by Goebbels and Hitler as well.
God bless M.L. King for saying that he wanted to see the day when people "... will be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin".
Aug '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
I guess my earlier post was a freudian slip (inadvertent) allusion to Malcolm X, whose wife Betty Shabazz who died in 1997, burned to death . She was nee Sanders, before she married Mr X, nee Little.
No one has brought up that little sidebar to the history of Muslim mosques here in America. Does any religious institution have the incident sheet that the mosques tote up around the world ?
Maybe this is a public safety issue.....after all the shooters are all back on the street, but with new names: Muhammad Abdul Aziz, aka Butler, Khalil Islam, aka Johnson,and Mujahid Hakim, aka Hayer. Is this their new mosque ?
Swimming pool, squash court, target range. History is so racist !!
Jul '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
If the left labels our fear of being forced to submit to the will of allah as Islamophobia, should we shudder every time we hear the words "Muslim outreach/"
Jun '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Stop! Stop! I suffer from sesquipedalianphobia.
May '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
Pat, though I expect you were only joking, a retort like that might occasionally get a liberal to reflect.
Honesty must be inspired at times. Often, the ground for logic must be prepared by an appeal to emotions. If it seems someone isn't genuinely listening to your arguments, it generally means you must establish a sympathetic bond before continuing.
The best defense against terms like homophobia is friendship. Most people are careful before accusing friends of anything, so they're encouraged to reflect on their views when they discover a friend believes something horrifying. A liberal friend of mine once came to my defense when one of her friends accused me of homophobia. My friend didn't agree with me either, but she helped others to reflect, I think, by vouching for me.
Also, it sometimes helps to deflect criticisms away from yourself when playing defense. If a liberal makes a claim that implies you're a bigot or something, reply to the content while disregarding the jab. This often takes people by surprise, which leads to curiosity.
It's not always good to ignore the injustice of such insults, but sometimes.
May '10
Re: Phobic My Eye!
As an American who has spent most of the last 49 years overseas, I admit to being at a total loss at this nutty dialogue in my native land. I have lived in 12 countries and been to many more and by a significant margin, the USA is the least racist country I have encountered. Yet it spends more time and effort anguishing over racial guilt than any other. One would have thought that a Civil War, a couple of amendments to the Constitution and the election of a black President would have dispensed with all this foolishness.
The USA is also the most welcoming and inclusive society/country on the planet but we dedicate huge amounts of time hurling non-inclusive accusations at one another. Islamophobia is one of many.
I am proudly PC Phobic and have neither time nor interest in the other absurd slurs.