tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192922.post8288521179588106851..comments2024-01-31T23:45:04.049+00:00Comments on Mabinogogiblog: Is it racist to use the term Islamo-fascist?DocRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08903964792092284406noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192922.post-30588537538548889642016-02-18T17:24:01.045+00:002016-02-18T17:24:01.045+00:00Hi Tom, thanks for a thought provoking comment.
E...Hi Tom, thanks for a thought provoking comment.<br /><br />Easy bit first, Islamophobia is not "racist", it is religionist. Ahmed is making a jump, using racist because it is a powerful term already in the language thanks to Hitler and Apartheid.<br /><br />Was Mussolini a Christian fascist? Breivik and other extreme right wingers certainly had fantasies about being Christian, and flaunt Crusader images, but Christians would certainly distance themselves immediately. As moderate Muslims do with regard to Daesh etc.<br /><br />So should we not use the word "Islamic" at all? Or at least not in a negative context. We can talk about Islamic art.<br /><br />Maybe you're right. You could be right. But I have to confess it doesn't <i>feel</i> right to me. It feels as if we are tip-toeing around the problem, granting indulgences to the Muslim culture/religion that would in no way be granted to Christian culture religion. <br /><br />But then again, we sanitise our own acts of warfare. We use civilised means, drones and missiles to deliver our smart bombs, instead of nasty bloody suicide bombers. And our pilots do not shout God is Great when they press the button. The man that presses the nuclear button may or may not be a practising Christian.<br /><br />Whatever, I still do not believe that usint the accurate term Islamo-Fascist deserves to be condemned as racist.DocRichardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16815923540830609285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192922.post-1094983523067246062016-02-18T16:57:34.362+00:002016-02-18T16:57:34.362+00:00Surely the question is whether the label 'Isla...Surely the question is whether the label 'Islamic' is relevant in this case?<br /><br />Ahmed points out occasions when labels like 'gay' or 'black' are used in newspaper headlines, when their sexuality or skin colour is completely irrelevant to the issue at hand. Her writing on this point is very good (if obfuscated by academic language).<br /><br />If the fascists' Islamic faith wasn't relevant to their fascism, or if you wouldn't use the qualifier 'Christian' or 'Jewish' in equivalent cases, then it's clear-cut case of racist double standards. However, if you think their Islamic or Islamist beliefs are particularly relevant, then to my mind it clearly isn't racist.<br /><br />I seem to recall that Mussolini claimed to be re-establishing the Holy Roman Empire. Was he a Christian fascist?<br /><br />Tatchell has been plenty outspoken about christian churches as well, and he is objecting to the use of Islamic scripture to justify homophobia, so I can't see how he can be dismissed as racist in those cases. Perhaps he isn't the most consistent, considerate and conciliatory commentator, but who could expect that from the man that founded Outrage?<br /><br />I don't really have a firm view on this, but I agree that Ahmed's essay seems to be ruling out the use of these racial and religious signifiers full stop, particularly when applied to minorities who suffer discrimination, and that cannot be right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com