It should go without saying that we shouldn’t paint all Muslims (or any group!) with the same brush. Yet if you follow world news networks, it seems like all Muslims are terrorists. Try to argue against that, and get smacked with the adage, “Well, not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists are Muslims.” Worse still, the world’s 1.6 billion followers of Islam have also been stereotyped as backwards extremists.
Stereotyping is a lazy-brained way to view the world. In a fast-paced world, lurching rapidly from one Middle East crisis to the next, reported in superficial soundbites, it’s dangerously easy to swallow the unsubstantiated info spoken by political pundits and TV talking heads. Do you realize how many “facts” you believe are simply slanted spin? In some cases, outright propaganda?
But perception is not reality; is Islam an intrinsically terrorist religion? Where’s the supporting data? According to America’s FBI analysis that tracked all terror attacks on U.S. soil from 1980 to 2005, Islamic terrorism accounted for just six percent, and that includes the actions of September 11, 2001! (Latinos claimed the lion’s share of American terrorism, and – responsible for seven percent of attacks - Jewish extremists were worse than the baddest Muslims!) What TV channel is covering that story?
Yet, propagated and inflamed by right wing media, the world continues to live in mortal fear of radical Islam. The horrific antics of Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Boko Haram and the rise of the self-described “Islamic” State all highjack headlines, helping to drive these misconceptions. Their terror tactics perfectly reinforce rising Islamophobia.
Over half of the UK’s mosques have been vandalized since the British soldier Lee Rigby was killed by extremists in May 2013. In France, the far-right politician Marine Le Pen (who obtained a shocking 25% of votes!) has asked that Muslim children not to be offered alternatives to pork in school meals. From eating halal to wearing a burka, Muslims worldwide are being victimized due to misconceptions and myths about their religion.
Make sure you’re not fooled by Islam’s imitators. Join us as we smite Muslim myths and misconceptions to set the Islamic record straight!
