God's wrath.
Posted on 12/10/2004 11:36:45 PM PST by Destro
Eye on Eurasia: Islamophobia rising
UPI - Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Date: Wednesday, December 08, 2004 3:01:58 PM EST By PAUL GOBLE
TARTU, Estonia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Efforts by Russian Muslims to counter the rising tide of anti-Muslim items in the Russian media are often so unprofessional, emotional and grotesque they increase anti-Muslim sentiment in Russia and abroad, says a leading Moscow specialist on Islam.
Roman Silantyev, who serves as secretary of the Inter-religious Council of Russia and also as the chief specialist on Islam in the Patriarchate's External Relations Department, makes precisely that argument in the current issue of the Russian Orthodox Church's Tserkovniy vestnik.
Silantyev notes Islamophobia is increasing in Russia -- a view shared by most participants in a roundtable organized by the editors of NG-Religii in its Dec. 1 issue. And that makes countering this form of bigotry -- and doing so successfully -- all the more important.
In his article "Several Thoughts About Islamophobia," Silantyev notes there are many responsible defenders of Islam in Russia both among the country's Muslim leadership and in the media. But at the same time, he suggests the fight against Islamophobia in Russia is all too often dominated by "doubtful." people.
Sometimes these "defenders of Islam" expect non-Muslims to accept that "Islam is a religion of peace because it is peaceful," a circular argument he suggests is just about as impressive to non-Muslim Russians as were Soviet-era claims the teachings of Karl Marx "are all-powerful because they are true."
On other occasions, he says, the self-styled defenders of the faith engage in nasty personal attacks such as suggesting one or another writer should be examined by a psychiatrist or should be ostracized because of positive attitudes toward Israel. Or they make irresponsible claims about the size of the Muslim community in Russia or the number of ethnic Russians who have supposedly converted to Islam.
Silantyev is especially critical of Russia's largest Islamic information Web site, Islam.ru. He writes the editors of this portal have managed "at one and the same time" to launch suits against Izvestiya for xenophobia and to post often vicious attacks on Jews and Orthodox Christians.
Moreover, Silantyev notes, this site seems to spend much of its time attacking leaders of the Russian Muslim community such as Ravil Gainutdin and Talgat Tadzhuddin, the head of the Union of Muslims of Russia -- actions that only encourage hostility toward Muslims by non-Muslims.
What those who want to fight effectively against Islamophobia must do, Silantyev maintains, is "to create a positive image of Islam in the eyes of Russian society by stressing historical examples of the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christians, their joint opposition to the godless power in the past, and their common struggle against non-traditional religions and new religious movements in the future."
But none of that will matter, Silantyev concludes, unless Muslim scholars and Muslim commentators provide a satisfactory answer to "the principled question: why do the overwhelming majority of terrorist groups now acting in the world associate themselves with Islam and why does not a single terrorist organization act in the name of Orthodox Christianity?"
Not surprisingly, Silantyev's ideas have been attacked by those he criticizes, a development not unexpected but one that may receive greater attention than would otherwise be the case because of the opening in New York of a U.N. seminar devoted to the question of how best to counter Islamophobia and promote tolerance.
The response of the editors of Islam.ru to Silantyev's article was immediate and -- at least from the point of view of Silantyev -- compelling evidence of some of the problems he points to.
In often extremely sharp and personal terms, Islam.ru's Abdulla Khasinov argues Silantyev is illiterate on Islamic questions, his statements about Islam.ru are both ignorant and unprofessional, and he has rendered himself unfit to serve as secretary of the Inter-religious Council of Russia.
Indeed, Khasinov concludes the only thing that Silantyev could possibly be fit to serve the members of that Council is tea "because for that he would only need to smile."
Many Russian Orthodox clergy and laity will read Silantyev's article, but few will see Khasinov's response. By Khasinov's own admission, Islam.ru has only some 8,000 subscribers, and beyond any doubt most of them are Muslims who already agree with the site's point of view.
That imbalance in access to the mainstream media, the Internet's tendency in many cases to reinforce the views of surfers rather than promote dialogue among them, and the equally nasty comments of some of those who attack Islam all help to explain some of Khasinov's anger.
But Silantyev is surely right that getting angry won't solve anything and that those who do want to combat the evil of Islamophobia will never be able to do so until and unless they overcome these limitations and answer the challenge he has posed.
--
(Paul Goble teaches at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia.)
-- Copyright 2004 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
God's wrath.
Oh OK.
They'll know about it come that day. "I never knew you".
Ow.
Funny you should mention French food, though. I was looking for a great restaurant that specialized in seafood, especially French-style. But I noticed that, as I was travelling, the French style restaurants were spicier and better outside the so-called capital of French cooking, Paris, and the farther away you got on the Continent from Paris, the better it got. Finally, I settled on a culinary resting point, because I especially liked the fish stews that the Italians made, oddly enough, in their capital city.
I think I'm a bit biased, though, because his Holiness was at the new restaurant at which I first tried Romano-French cooking. The randomness of Il Papa's arrival and blessing of the place probably improved the experience and food, I think, which stands to reason, for you see...
...there's no grace like Rome's for the bouillabaise.
CAIR has been a disaster for the Muslims in the US.
I agree. Its like saying that America suffered from Naziphobia during the early 1940s
I've seen nothing to dispute your contention.
They are time bombs, ask the French. 10 years ago they'd tell you the Muslims adapted reasonably well. Now those SAME muslims have grown beards or wear headscarves and have nothing to do with French society. That is scary and that is something never seen in the Western world.
I think it's just starting here,Your right it is scary!
I sense it to. I always make a comment to my 11 year old kid, to the effect that "Halloween is over" when I come across some of them in their costumes. I try to make sure they hear it. We both get a laugh out of it. (deal with that, Libs)
In seriousness, if they come here, then they should dress American. If they want to dress in a threatening manner, they should go home (or be sent home). If more Americans would start getting into their faces, maybe they would start feeling a bit uncomfortable and think a bit more about their dress code.
The woman's dark eyes had fear in them. I do not understand why. I see those things very quickly. Her husband wasn't present.
So many of you seem to be travelling far and wide for good food. I prefer to stay right at home and cook up some of the finest culinary delights in my own kitchen.
I was working on one such masterpiece that depended heavily on a french recipe using potatoes recently when I discovered, much to my chagrin, that the foofy little pomeranian that my wife had graciously agreed to dog-sit kept getting underfoot. Finally, I had enough of the little fanatic, cute as he was, and I placed him in a convenient empty china cabinet so he could at least watch the goings on.
Well, my wife was horrified at the though of my imprisoning this little darling, and when she quizzed me about it, I quite honestely and frankly responded, "My dear, when cooking French potatoes, I'll not let a pom deter me."
Last summer my family and I went camping at a state park here in Washington state,And muslims were there speaking in Arabic! wearing there skull caps.I don't care what anybody thinks,These freaks are scary!They act like they own the park.Or are just daring you to say something.Camping,Sheesh
Good - you understand.
Yes camping - an invaluable skill when the insurrection begins. Now they just need to take off the customes and shave the beards and they may be able to blend in. Although you can always flush them out by saying "Israel".
Then you do not understand the Muslim culture of female beatings, honor killings, and virtual house slavery that exists in Islam.
That may be it. She looked scared, and I am not one to abuse a woman. Too bad. When the Mexican males cabrones get done with Islamic men, those women are going to be widows:)
The one that really pissed me off,At a rest area off I-5 middle of the day five of them on rugs praying in front of everybody,People getting coffee using the bathroom,And there they are.The urge to kick a field goal!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.