Dec 06 2008
Please Extend Individualism to Include Anti-Terrorist Muslims!
It is always unfortunate when advocates of liberty reject or alienate any possible friends and allies by making sweeping generalizations about entire groups of people. I fear that Muslims have been unjustly smeared as a group for the actions of a few self-proclaimed Muslims who actually do not follow many of the teachings of Islam.
I took exception to a statement made earlier by Mr. Kyrel Zantonavitch that “There’s virtually no Muslim anywhere in the world that can honestly say he opposes normal-type Muslim propagation (jihad) and normal-type Muslim law (sharia). There’s virtually no Muslim anywhere in the world that can honestly be called a Western liberal. For those who don’t believe this - name one.” In my response, I named numerous Muslims and Muslim organizations who strongly condemned terrorist attacks and expressed support for liberty and nonviolence.
Now, here is another courageous Muslim individual who has condemned terrorism – unequivocally, completely, and without reservation. I hereby congratulate YouTube user americanmuslimgirl, who succinctly does exactly what critics of all Muslims have dared any Muslim to do. Now the critics must be intellectually honest and concede this point. At least some Muslims have in fact condemned precisely what they needed to condemn.
Please watch this video; please observe the clearest possible evidence that not all Muslims are bigoted, intolerant, or supportive of violence, oppression, and terrorism.
Individualism is truly a wonderful concept. It implies treating each person primarily as an individual human being, not as a member of any circumstantial or ideological group. Collective guilt and guilt by association do not exist for an individualist.
Now let all the individualists of the world do Muslim individuals the courtesy which is owed to every human being. Treat them and judge them as individuals. If they blow up things and people, condemn them. If they condemn those who blow up things and people, respect them and cease unjustly attacking them.
Note: I am an atheist and do not agree with the metaphysical premises of any religion. This does not prevent me from respecting peaceful, civilized, and tolerant individuals of every metaphysical persuasion.
Sincerely,
Gennady Stolyarov II
Gennady Stolyarov argues for judging all people as individuals, even Muslims, and of course he’s right in this. I know many Muslims and treat them exactly thus. Still…
Muslims as a CLASS present a real problem to the world. And I don’t think one can argue for generalization regarding people as being truly prejudiced, illegitimate, or anti-individualism. All knowledge is held in categories like this. The nature of Muslims in general needs to be identified. Or at least their ideology does.
Until recently, the most popular Muslims worldwide were Osama and Saddam. The majority, as far as I can tell, support the various “terrorist” groups like Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, Al Asqa Martyrs’ Brigade, the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Jihad, etc. The most popular Muslim intellectuals of the last century are Khomeini and Qutb. And America’s largest Muslim charity was convicted a few weeks ago of supporting “terrorism.” This is normal average Islam, people!
So the majority support jihad. Also sharia.
But this is a STUNNINGLY important and controversial topic which needs to be dealt with at length. Hopefully I’ll do that eventually. But here’s a few more thoughts:
My best Muslim friend is a English-speaking, fully-integrated, New York City taxi-driver named Ismael who hails from Lebanon, lives in a Jewish neighborhood and building, and works incredibly hard. He’s the sweetest guy on the planet. But he’s still a Muslim. He supports Hezbollah utterly — “Hezbollah and Lebanon are the same.” His favorite people in history are the four rightly guided caliphs — no Voltaire or Jefferson. He knows nothing of the attack on Israel in 1948 — just the events of 1967. He doesn’t believe that hundreds of thousands of Jews lived in Egypt in the 1950s. He wants Israel moved to Africa. And he knows NOTHING about Western liberalism and its history and culture — not even curious. When I explain it, he politely disagrees with all. And this guy is flat-out the best Muslim on earth — the hope of the world. And hopeless.
There are plenty of decent isolated individuals and groups out there. Of the 6 or 7 I interact with frequently, EVERY ONE is nice. And I’ve had good recent experiences on YouTube with the Alawis. But so what?
How does Islam effect, brainwash, and animalize the Muslims? That’s the issue.
The PROBLEM, folks, isn’t radical Islam. It’s Islam. Moderate and mainstream Islam needs to be destroyed — just like moderate and mainstream fascism and socialism.
That’s a HINT of my views on this!