Skip to content
Menu
Meerkat Musings
  • Welcome to Meerkat Musings
  • Meerkat Podcasts
  • Why Meerkats?
  • Formula 1
  • Why I love…
  • What I think…
  • Sci-Fi Analysis
  • Reviews
  • Meerkat Fiction
  • Meerkat Book Reviews
  • Sites Meerkats Like
  • Site Updates
Meerkat Musings

The Backlash Begins

Posted on November 15, 2015
Tweet
Follow me

It is not surprising, but most certainly saddening, to see the broad brushstrokes being applied to Islam at the moment (especially by elements of the religious right).

Whilst is undoubtedly true that Islamic extremists are dangerous and hateful, this doesn’t make everyone who is a Muslim evil – yet it is all too easy to persuade people at times like this that they are.

Does Islam have its problems? Unquestionably. I am far from convinced that moderate voices do enough to combat the radical elements that encourage and carry out these attacks. This is even more astonishing when you consider that extremists target moderate Muslims as well! As I posted over at Big Footy:

… radicals want to remove those who are not ‘true believers’. Moderate voices are deemed thus and are therefore a threat.

After all, to an extremist, anyone that does follow their religion, nor in the exact same way, is not a true believer. The floods of refugees fleeing Syria are doing whatever they can to get to safety precisely because of this – because irrespective of whether they are Muslims, Jewish, Christians or anything else, they are not radical enough in their beliefs.

Religion, like a lot of things, boils down to interpretation, and Islam is not unique in this. Just as Islamic extremists target Non-Muslims and other Muslims alike, so have Christians done in the past, yet this would appear to be white-washed by some who feel they can somehow hold a moral high ground because of their beliefs. Violence between Protestants and Catholics raged for many years across Europe, and in fact continued until quite recently in Northern Ireland (it wouldn’t surprise me to learn if pockets of violence continue there even now). The primary difference between Christian and Muslim extremists is that Christian extremists have gotten clever, embedding themselves in the political machine of the USA, using their influence to quietly and patiently turn America into a theocracy (well, trying to). The hardline elements of the religious right (not just in America but here in Britain and elsewhere) seek to deny homosexuals rights, want to tell women what they can and can’t do with their own bodies, and desire pseudo-scientific ideas like creationism to be taught as scientific fact in schools.

Their goals are depressingly similar to extremist Muslims – only instead of cowardly attacks on innocent bystanders, they’ve gotten smart and use words.

Christian extremists also seek to tar Islam in sweeping strokes too. ‘Islam is a religion of violence’ they will say, whilst reminding us that Christianity is a peaceful religion – never mind its dark history.

So, to summarise :

Islamic extremism is extremely dangerous. The acts carried out in Paris on Friday (not to mention the numerous other atrocities carried out elsewhere) underscore the need to oppose IS and do so properly (striking through various means). It is vitally important to encourage moderate Muslims to play an active role (politically or otherwise) in opposing extremism, something which right now does not happen enough.

It is also important to remember that not all Muslims are responsible for the bloodshed. It is entirely unreasonable and unfair to make such hasty generalisations.

Please follow and like us:
error0
fb-share-icon0
Tweet
fb-share-icon20

1 thought on “The Backlash Begins”

  1. Pingback: Very true Observations from The Ego Factor | Meerkat Musings

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The Awakening UK

The Awakening USA

Please like and follow this meerkat!

Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Tweet
YouTube
Follow by Email

Meerkat Comments

  • theologyarchaeology on Democracy vs God
  • theologyarchaeology on Democracy vs God
  • theologyarchaeology on Democracy vs God
  • DarthTimon on Democracy vs God
  • theologyarchaeology on Democracy vs God

Meerkat Tweets

Ben BerwickFollow

Ben Berwick
darth_timonBen Berwick@darth_timon·
6h

Who knew that asking for someone to do the decent thing of proving their claims was creepy? https://twitter.com/emtfr/status/1351324272246009858?s=19

Reply on Twitter 1351446040382218240Retweet on Twitter 1351446040382218240Like on Twitter 1351446040382218240Twitter 1351446040382218240
darth_timonBen Berwick@darth_timon·
16h

What films defined your teen years?

4
Jayesh@jazzleberrywhy

What films defined your teen years? https://twitter.com/AndorianSoup/status/1351246543563718657 4

Reply on Twitter 1351292276128018432Retweet on Twitter 1351292276128018432Like on Twitter 13512922761280184322Twitter 1351292276128018432
darth_timonBen Berwick@darth_timon·
16h

There's a lot of foxes around my way tonight.

Reply on Twitter 1351291952080281606Retweet on Twitter 1351291952080281606Like on Twitter 1351291952080281606Twitter 1351291952080281606
darth_timonBen Berwick@darth_timon·
16h

When you get an itch, are you ever tempted to scratch it in the same manner as a cat?

Reply on Twitter 1351288556996726788Retweet on Twitter 1351288556996726788Like on Twitter 13512885569967267881Twitter 1351288556996726788
Retweet on TwitterBen Berwick Retweeted
SelfPubShowcaseSelfPubShowcase@SelfPubShowcase·
17h

A fallen warrior, together with a small band, must tear down everything his kind holds dear and reshape his people -- or see them utterly destroyed. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DK71165 #scifi #action #adventure @darth_timon

Reply on Twitter 1351270648987975683Retweet on Twitter 13512706489879756831Like on Twitter 13512706489879756831Twitter 1351270648987975683
Load More...

Meerkat Categories

  • Art
  • Books
  • Charity
  • Family
  • Fiction
  • Film
  • Food
  • Football
  • Formula 1
  • Games
  • History
  • Interwebs
  • Music
  • Other Stuff
  • Politics
  • Religion
  • Reviews
  • Sci Fi
  • Science
  • Site News
  • Society
  • Technology
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
  • Weird
  • Work

Meerkat Podcasts

Meerkat Musings
Meerkat Musings
A man (meerkat?) called Ben discusses the world!

Podcast Subscription Menu

  • Visit Website
  • RSS Feed
Favourite Day of the Week
by Ben Berwick

A random generator gave me this random question!

Favourite Day of the Week
Favourite Day of the Week
January 17, 2021
Ben Berwick
Meerkat Musings on 2021!
January 8, 2021
Ben Berwick
Grosjean's Fiery Escape
November 30, 2020
Ben Berwick
Tea vs Coffee!
November 28, 2020
Ben Berwick
Musings on Cats
November 24, 2020
Ben Berwick
Mistakes and Anxiety
October 27, 2020
Ben Berwick
Trumped by Covid
October 2, 2020
Ben Berwick
Covid Conspiracies!
September 25, 2020
Ben Berwick
The Power of Words
September 18, 2020
Ben Berwick
School and Books
September 4, 2020
Ben Berwick
Search Results placeholder
©2021 Meerkat Musings | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com