For a large portion of the 21st century, liberals have taken on the role of the protective big sibling persona for any minority or controversial community in the U.S.
Time and time again, liberals speak for those who have been othered. But this type of help has enforced a new, problematic discourse that hinders ones ability to have an opinion and generate productive discussions about any kind of issue directed at a specific group of people.
The liberal protectiveness that is most destructive in today’s current state of controversy is Islamophobia.
This is a word created to criticize those who reject Muslim culture by calling them irrationally fearful of a religion.
But this is an unfair categorization for the disapproval of aspects of Islamic culture.
In 2015, Bill Maher had a round table discussion about Islam and whether or not it is predisposed to violence.
In that round table, Dinesh D’Souza explained, “What’s going on here is there is a civil war in the mind of the liberal”. He explains that liberals advocate for individual freedom for everyone and for multiculturalism all at the same time.
The latter half protects Muslim culture from any kind of criticism or intervention.
Bill Maher stated, “Christopher Hitchens said Islamophobic is a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons”.
So let’s break down this very clever statement.
The Fascists, in this case, are liberals that dictate how a population can be viewed, understood, and spoken of within a political or social setting.
Cowards are those that fear political incorrectness and controversy.
And morons are the public who agree with this strategy, thus eliminating any discussion that represents Muslims in a poor fashion.
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Can we really chalk up every fear of an oppressive culture to being a phobia? To be fearful of an extreme religion that has enabled people to murder and stone one another does not seem irrational; in fact, that is a very rational thing to be afraid of.
Those that feel strongly against the oppressive nature of the Islamic faith are not being phobic, they are afraid of the violence that has ensued and continues to kill innocent people due to ancient ways of thinking.
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In 2013, a story was released that Arifa Bibi was stoned to death by her uncle and cousins for having a mobile phone in Pakistan.
Stoning is a violent torture method most frequently used to punish women for asserting too much freedom or for their sexuality.
Many Muslim supporters of the campaign against stoning argue that while stoning women is not written in the Koran, “it is legitimized by the Hadith – the acts and sayings of the Prophet Mohamed.”
The story also mentions another case in 2008 in which a 13-year-old girl, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, was buried from her neck down and stoned to death by 50 men. The reason? She had been raped by three men and was instead accused of adultery.
Our fear has not been the manifestation of a phobia of Islam; it comes from these real life tragedies.
Yet, this is not to be mistaken for a generalization that all Muslims are violent. The issue here is a misrepresentation that the religion itself invokes peace and that instead, a few extremists have reformed its ideologies and have become violent.
There is something innately violent within the religion, but that does not mean that all who follow the teachings of the Koran are violent.
This misconception comes from a lack of education and discussion on the topic. Words like Islamophobia allow this misrepresentation to exist because of the absence of communication about the violent qualities of the religion.
Both protecting and blaming an entire race is not constrictive, and it destroys any kind of productive conversation with regards to a controversial ideology.
But, disapproval of these characteristics still do not warrant the kind of blind, racist bigotry demonstrated by Donald Trump and his supporters.
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The Koran, like the Bible or the Torah is a sacred text to those who read its teachings. Religion, for those who believe in it, should serve as a personal tool to connect with God or a higher being(s) in order to find support and lead a good life.
However that is not all that makes up religion.
Like any ideology, religion’s goal is to dictate and hide certain truths in order to obtain power over a population. It enforces certain beliefs, and rejects others.
This is a solidified quality of all religion, and it enables people to exclude others and their philosophies in order to support their own.
Ignoring oppressive aspects of Islam by calling anyone in opposition to the religion “Islamophobic” eliminates our ability to point out pieces of a culture that need changing for the greater good of humanity. You can disagree with something, you can even find it unacceptable, but that alone does not make you racist and it does not make you hateful.
Racism and hate come from an irrational blind assumption that all who are Muslim are also violent; xenophobia that encourages that kind of thinking proves ones stupidity.
Fear of reprimanding Islam cements the topic in mud and watches people drown in prejudice and oppression while everyone else ignores them to avoid controversial discussions.
The word, Islamophobia is not protecting Muslims, it is systematically harmful.
An individual should be able to be Muslim and not face stoning if they choose to sleep with someone before marriage or get an educating, or want to live their life differently than their parents had. That is their prerogative.
Liberals’ efforts to avoid political incorrectness allows this kind of practice to exist without reprimand, it is not protecting anyone.
However, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. By deliberately othering a religion and prejudicially demanding that they be kept from living in the U.S. is not an example of simply foregoing political correctness, it is just racism.
Donald Trump is not a leader in real discussion of controversial topics he is just racist.
Islamophobia and Islamic racism have been frequent and popular ideologies ever since 9/11, and it has kept the stigma of Muslim Americans alive.
It is acceptable to discuss the fundamental problems with Islam if they could be reasons for oppression and murder.
Just like it is acceptable to discuss gun regulation if a lack of background checks and restrictions could be the reason for massacre.
It’s time to stop speaking for other people and to instead, speak for the issues and find solutions.
If there is an inherent violence within a religion, we can talk about it without saying all Muslims are violent.
On the other hand, violence does not make it acceptable to completely omit a religion from this country, and it certainly does not warrant racism.
It is time to find the medium between both sides, to recognize that this religion of peace might not be so peaceful after all, but to also understand that that does not disregard all those who use its teachings to lead moral lives.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
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A Rundown On Republican Presidential Candidate Carly Fiorina
By Dexter Peralta
Carly Fiorina is one of the now sixteen Republican presidential candidates after former Governor of Texas Rick Perry withdrew from the race, and she is seeking to become the next commander-in-chief. We’ve compiled some information on Fiorina to get you up-to-speed with the Republican presidential candidate that everyone may soon be talking about.
Background
Fiorina is a Washington political outsider, who worked her way up from a secretary at a local real estate firm. She moved on to become an AT&T Manager Trainee at age 25 and in ten years, she became the company’s first female officer, becoming the senior vice president of the company’s hardware and systems division. She eventually became the Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett Packard, and the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 Company. In 2003 she was named the most powerful woman in business by Fortune Magazine, a title she held for five years, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2004.
Human Rights
Some of Fiorina’s beliefs differ from the typical Republican ideologies. For the most part she’s a social conservative – she needs to be in order to win the primary. She is Pro-life and supports a ban on abortion twenty weeks after fertilization. She also supports defunding Planned Parenthood, especially after the recent discoveries of the selling of fetal tissue and organs.
On LGBTQ+ rights issues, Fiorina has mixed sentiments. She does not endorse same sex marriage, but she does support granting governmental benefits to same sex couples and in 2010 supported same sex civil unions.
Climate Change
Fiorina recognizes that climate change is real and caused by humans, but also believes that suggested Democratic policies will not solve the problem and blamed liberal environmental policies for the drought in California and out west.
Immigration
On immigration, she supports a path to citizenship for those who overstayed their visas, for those who join the military, or graduate from college, but not for those who are arrived undocumented. Like the other candidates, advocates for more border control.
Economy
Fiorina believes in less government regulation, lower taxes, a zero-based budgeting tax reform, and that minimum wage levels should be determined by States.
We know what she stands for and we know her history, but can she win the primary? Although she’s a Washington outsider, she’s not new to politics. In 2008 she worked as an advisor for John McCain’s Campaign, and in 2010 she ran for Senate against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer, losing by ten points.
In the recent Washington Post-ABC News poll among republicans, Donald Trump is still surging among all other candidates with 33 percent, with Doctor Ben Carson creeping up from behind at 20, followed by Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, with Carly Fiorina in tenth place. However as a nominee open to differing ideas that aren’t tied down to the modern republican platform, Carly Fiorina is a strong contender for the republican nomination.
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Muhammad Ali And The Gold Medal
If you have been paying attention to the news in the slightest over the last three days or so, you are aware that the professional boxing legend Muhammad Ali has died.
Earlier today, as I was looking through the comment sections of news stories about his death, I read a comment about how he threw his Olympic gold medal into the Hudson River. It seemed like a silly claim. This prompted me to do a little research on the subject.
Here is what I found.
The following is a passage from Ali’s 2004 autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly:
“There comes a time in every person’s life when he has to choose the course his life will take. On my journey I have found that the path to self-discovery is the most liberating choice of all.
My Olympic gold medal meant so much to me. It was a symbol of what I had accomplished for myself and for my country. Although I still experienced some of the same racial discrimination that I always had, my spirits were so high that I thought all of that would change.
A Kentucky newspaper wrote that my gold medal was the greatest prize any Black boy ever brought home to Louisville. I was proud, but I remember thinking at the time, if any White boy ever brought back anything greater, I sure didn’t hear about it. It seemed that I had become Louisville’s Black “Great White Hope.” I expected my gold medal to achieve something greater for me. During my first few days home, it seemed to accomplish exactly what I hoped, but soon I had a rude awakening.
I was sure they were finally going to let me eat downtown. In those days almost every restaurant, hotel, and movie theater in Louisville and the entire South was either closed to Blacks, or had segregated sections. But I thought that my medal would open them up to me.
One day my friend Ronnie and I were riding our motor bikes around downtown Louisville, when it began to rain. We parked and walked into a little restaurant, where we sat down and ordered two cheeseburgers and two vanilla milk shakes.
I was so proud, sitting there with my gold medal around my neck. (I wore it everywhere in those days.) The waitress looked at both of us and said, “We don’t serve Negroes.”
I politely replied, “Well, we don’t eat them either.”
I told her I was Cassius Clay, the Olympic Champion. Ronnie pointed to my gold medal.
Then the waitress looked me over again and went to the back, to speak with the manager. Ronnie and I could see them huddled over, talking and looking back at us.
We were sure that now that they knew who I was we would be able to stay and eat, but when the waitress came back, she said that she was sorry, but we had to leave.
As Ronnie and I stood up and walked out of the door, my heart was pounding. I wanted my medal to mean something-the mayor had said it was the key to Louisville. It was supposed to mean freedom and equality. I wanted to tell them all that they should be ashamed. I wanted to tell them that this was supposed to be the land of the free. As I got up and walked out of that restaurant, I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking that
I just wanted America to be America.
I had won the gold medal for America, but I still couldn’t eat in this restaurant in my hometown, the town where they all knew my name, where I was born in General Hospital only a few blocks away. I couldn’t eat in the town where I was raised, where I went to church and led a Christian life. I still couldn’t eat in a restaurant in the town where I went to school and helped the nuns clean the school. Now I had won the gold medal.
But it didn’t mean anything, because I didn’t have the right color skin.
Ronnie wanted me to call one of the millionaires from my sponsoring group and tell them what happened, and I almost did, but more than anything, I wanted that medal to mean that I was my own man and would be respected and treated like any other human being. Then I realized that even if it had been my “Key to the City,” if it could get only me into the “White only” place, then what good was it? What about other Black people?
Later I realized that it was part of God’s plan for me that they wouldn’t serve me that day. Before I was kicked out of the restaurant, I was thinking what the medal could mean for me. The more I thought about it, the more I began to see that if that medal didn’t mean equality for all, it didn’t mean anything at all.
What I remember most about 1960 was the first time I took my gold medal off. From that moment on, I have never placed great value on material things. What really matters is how you feel about yourself. If I had kept that medal I would have lost my pride.
Over the years I have told some people I had lost it, but no one ever found it. That’s because I lost it on purpose. The world should know the truth-it’s somewhere at the bottom of the Ohio River.”
There is dispute as to whether or not this story was merely apocryphal, as some reports claim that during his lifetime, Ali privately claimed to friends that the medal had merely been misplaced. This claim has been backed up by friends such as fellow boxer Bundini Brown, as well as Ali biographer Thomas Hauser.
Which story is true? We may never know. But you can be the judge. Do your own homework, and feel free to comment below!
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Thomas Leuthard/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Could This Move By Netanyahu Make Israeli-Palestinian Relations Much Worse?
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