Talk:Islamophobia/Archive 15

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Misuse of the term & conflicting definitions

The first sentence says, "Islamophobia is prejudice against, hatred towards, or irrational fear of or racism towards Muslims." I have no doubt that there are people who are prejudiced against individual Muslims (i.e. pre-judge an individual based on the average characteristics of a group to which that individual belongs). I have no doubt there are people who hate all Muslims. I have no doubt there are people who are afraid of Muslims for irrational reasons. Perhaps the term "Islamophobia" aptly describes such behaviour and beliefs.

However, in my experience, the term "Islamophobia" is often described differently than the definition in the first sentence of this article (see below) and is often (mostly?) twisted and used indiscriminately to describe criticism of certain dogma and tenets of Islam and is also used in Europe to describe the suggestion that Islam and Muslim immigration is posing a problem for civil society. Whether or not these criticisms of the dogma and tenets of Islam are valid and whether or not the claims that Islam and Muslim immigration is posing a problem for civil society are valid are irrelevant questions for this article and for my point. The point is that the term is very often being patently misused by people with knee-jerk sensitivity to any remark which could possibly have been spawned by racist sentiments, and this reality is not reflected in this article. It is a lamentable bit of irony that many of the people who (rightfully) so harshly condemn prejudice against Muslims are the ones who pre-judge a critic of Islam/multiculturalism by assuming that that critic's remarks are fueled by prejudice, bigotry, hatred, and racism.

I do not think it is a matter of opinion that the term is sometimes used inaccurately. The term is undeniably used inaccurately when it is applied to a statement that is critical of Islam or multiculturalism, for example, but where the statement does not assert that all Muslims, or even most Muslims, are a problem. An excellent example of misuse of the term can be found in an article by Gallup. [Link] In it, it implies that certain things are Islamophobic:

• Some people do not respect Muslim societies (as if disrespecting a society for their values implies a prejudice against all people from that society)
• The opinion that there is a conflict between Islam and Western values (as if such an opinion meant that the individual with that opinion is necessarily prejudiced against all Muslims)
• The peculiar statement that it is "alarming" that 1/3 of people in the US who self-report no prejudice against Islam say they have an unfavorable view of Islam. Apparently is has not occurred to Gallup that one can believe a religion has problematic tenets and dogma without necessarily believing that all people who adhere to that religion adhere to those tenets and dogma.
• The opinion that certain religious beliefs [Islam] threaten the Western way of life

Furthermore, there is a conflict of definitions on this Wiki page. If we accept the first sentence's definition of Islamophobia, then it is in conflict with Runnymede's claim that what constitutes Islamophobia includes beliefs that Islam is inferior to the West, is barbaric, is irrational, is primitive, is sexist, is violent, is aggressive, is threatening, is supportive of terrorism, and is a political ideology. Note that none of these beliefs, which Runnymede equates with Islamophobia, are necessarily held in conjunction with "prejudice against, hatred towards, or irrational fear of or racism towards Muslims." This conflict is not addressed in this article.

Islamophobia, as defined in the opening sentence, undoubtedly exists, and it is odious. However, I do not see much mention in this article of the blatant misuse of the term to describe statements which do not necessarily have anything to do with "prejudice against, hatred towards, or irrational fear of or racism towards Muslims." I also do not see how the article reconciles the contradiction between the opening sentence and what Runnymede says. Aelius28 (talk) 07:00, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Can you cite sources which make this argument? AndyTheGrump (talk) 12:46, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Lots of terms are often used inaccurately. So what? TFD (talk) 20:53, 3 July 2013 (UTC)