- People like Bill Maher and Sam Harris make a living out of demonizing religion and superimposing stereotypes. They are intellectually dishonest and sometimes stoop so low as to give outright fascist statements. But nonetheless, this does not mean that they are totally wrong all of the time. While I admire how Ben Affleck stood up to these quasi-fascist New Atheists by pointing out their tendency to superimpose the views and actions of a minority over the entire Muslim world, he, too missed a vital point on which, in my opinion, Harris wasnt wrong. While it is true that the majority of the Muslims would not take up arms and start butchering innocents in the name of Allah, it cannot be denied that a wide majority of these Muslims ascribe to certain radically dangerous views (courtesy of the influx and popularization of Salafist ideologies at the expense of the more pluralistic ones). Go out on the streets of Lahore and point towards a random individual accusing him of disrespecting the Holy Prophet (pbuh). Within seconds, an entire mob will emerge that is ready to beat the accused to death. The Pakistani judiciarys decision today to uphold the death penalty for Aasia Bibi and the subsequent apathy (and in many cases, even jubilation) demonstrated by this self-righteous nation just further give legitimacy to Harris claim. Moreover, widespread public support for death penalty for apostasy in various Muslim-majority nations is another indicator that there are certain areas, in which even the common Muslim is radicalized. It is very easy to be unconditionally dismissive of everything that Sam Harris or Bill Maher has to say; but, that means turning a blind eye towards a lot of things that are still in need of fixing in Muslim-majority countries. One should condemn stereotyping and genuine Islamophobia, but dismissing legitimate criticism only makes one ignorant and naive. P. S. Apologies for the extended rant.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 17:55:59 +0000
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