Islam protected by politics
A recent Investor’s Business Daily editorial, “The jihad on free speech (Feb. 7)” examines the suppression of First Amendment rights by Islamist organizations using such ad hominem slurs as “Islamophobia.”
First of all, “ad hominem” means “appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect” or “marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions made.”
In other words, using emotionally charged labels instead of logical arguments based on facts.
Dissecting the term “Islamophobia” itself reveals that a phobia can be defined in two words: irrational fear. The key word is “irrational,” meaning not based on facts and logic. If one’s concerns about Islam are rationally derived from facts learned by personally reading many books about Islamic history and theology, including the entire Quran, Sira (by Ibn Ishaq) and pertinent Hadith, then “Islamophobia” is inapplicable.
To quote John Adams, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
That quote speaks directly to the politically correct multiculturalism that reflexively condemns any critical examination of Islam with ad hominem labels of any kind.
Bob Strong
Spokane