The three issues about religion, islamophobia, fearing Islam and discrimination/hate against Muslims are often investigated under one indivisible title; however, they are completely different subjects of discussion, each having different explanations and approaches. This is why I am making this story public. We cannot understand the problems that arise from the approaches about religion unless we separate these three. First, I will provide definitions, and then, I will compare these. Continue reading “Islamophobia, Fearing Islam, and Anti-Muslim Discrimination”
Tag: religion
Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and the Fascist Pressure to Talk about Things – Part II
In the first part, I wrote about discrimination and murder. Because of the limited time I have in my hands nowadays, I had to cut the article short, and wait for an opportunity to write the second part. In this part, I will try to point out a problem on which many articles have so far been written. This problem is often called “liberal pusillanimity.” In his article “Je suis Charlie? It’s a bit late,” Kenan Malik argues that the situation we are in today regarding free speech is the result of the self-censorship culture developed by many people who call themselves liberals. According to Malik, had such people shown stronger support for free speech for the last 20 years, we would not be dealing with most of the problems we have right now. This “pusillanimity” presents itself in a few different manners, including the ones that are subjects of this article. Continue reading “Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and the Fascist Pressure to Talk about Things – Part II”
Current Patriarchal Values Associated with neo-Ottomanism in Turkey
I have been following up on the comments of European and American columnists on many events happening in Turkey for the last few years. As far as I understand, everyone in the “west” is insistent on making the same mistake over and over again. In principle, I do not hold anything against orientalism; however, like everything else, “too much” of it harms the depth of the perception. The mistake I am writing about now is that every non-Turkish, typically western opinion on Turkey revolves around religion vs. democracy. They are right in some aspects, but most of the comments lack depth in knowledge and interpretation. I will take the liberty of differentiating between an Islamic state and a Muslim state for now. As much as I do not like the expression “Muslim state” either, this will help me explain some of the misunderstood issues. Continue reading “Current Patriarchal Values Associated with neo-Ottomanism in Turkey”
The Problem of Self-Approval with Religion
Today’s subject is the claim that Islam has nothing to do with limitations on scientific advancements, but it is the people who apply Islam wrongly, that create problems. This approach is on the rise whenever the problems about religion (in any context) continue to appear on the media. Because religion does not want YOU to think there is any problem with the system itself. So, supposedly, the problems with Islam, Muslims and regions having a Muslim population as the majority are all results of the wrong application of the truly holy and all-good Islam. Continue reading “The Problem of Self-Approval with Religion”