At Islamophobia Watch.com
see more entries on Islamophobia in Canada at Islamophobia Watch
OTTAWA — Racist graffiti has marred a sign marking the future site of a mosque in Barrhaven. The messages – "F*** Muslims," "Ragheads Go" – and a swastika were spray painted onto the sign at 3020 Woodroffe Ave., near Claridge Drive, between Thursday night and Friday morning.
Anyway Islamophobia is not exclusive to the United States it is apparent in many other countries and as the defaced sign shows Canada is not immune to harboring large groups Islamophobes .
And one should take note that not all Islamophobes are on the political right or belong to a right-wing Evangelical or Pentecostal sect.
Though millions of Christians are convinced Islam is a violent religion which is anti-democratic anti-human rights.
They are also convinced President Obama is not an American citizen and that he is a secret Muslim who is waging a stealth Jihad against America.
But not all Christians believe this nonsense and hopefully know better.
Unfortunate these more reasonable Christians have mostly been silent since 911 attacks.
But their voices are especially neede now to help stem the tide Islamophobia bigotry which could lead to MuslimAmericans or even Muslim Canadians to lose their basic rights to be insulted in public with impunity to beat up Muslims and getting a light sentence.
As the saying goes We have seen the enemy and it is us.
By remaining unaffected by Muslim bashing and remaining silent we all become tacitly complicit in these crimes.
Some who adhere to at least some of the negative stereotyping are in fact individuals who otherwise would be labeled "liberal". or "progressive" or even far left.
Liberals and progressive get lured into this sort of ideology through their concern over human rights including women's rights . They hear these true-life horror stories and then extrapolate from these incidences to be indicative of how all Muslim men treat women and that this comes directly from Muhammad's Teachings The Qur'an and Hadith sayings .
aside :(And this is not justified since the Prophet Muhammad speaks about human dignity and that all are equal no one is superior to another.
He believed for instance that the community or state had the responsibility to take care of the poor, the infirm ,orphans and widows. )
But it can quickly become a slippery slope .
So one goes from questioning the headscarf and burqa to should there be a mosque in your neighborhood to should the Qur'an be banned -if as some do compare the Qur'an as much the same sort of propaganda as Mein Kampf then one questions whether it should be banned or not permitted in schools or not displayed in bookstores .
Or Qur'ans could have warnings on their covers like one does with toxic products may destroy your mind, your life turning into a religious fanatic going door to door like a good little Zombie shilling for Islam competing with the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses or local Evangelicals standing in front of your house or apartment building using a Cleansing Prayer to banish the Demons from your home and from your family's souls- (personally I never found these people threatening or maybe they too are part of an ancient conspiracy begun by Muhammad to take over America and Canada (not so much).
Or one could insist that the Media not speak in favorable terms but if so there should be a disclaimer or warning indicating that in reality the Qur'an is a dangerous book.
Or we could insist on equal time just like the Creationists or Intelligent Design crazies whenever Darwin is mentioned in the Media in Hollywood, in the schools and the pulpits . Well at least once they take power . They are out of power at the moment and that's when they can become unpredictable.
Liberals and Progressives should ask themselves is the road they want to take.
If they instead just add to the criticisms of Islam and all Muslims they merely increase the noise which adds to this toxic climate of fear distrust and anger.
Their silence emboldens the Islamophobes and their Know-Nothings
Yes even liberals or progressives can drift towards such prejudices bit by bit.
It becomes difficult to resist an idea which has become ubiquitous -TV, Radio, newspapers, Internet to websites, blogs, Tweeter, Facebook, YouTube and the pulpit, in government , the military etc.
Anti-Semitism was spread in the same way for over two thousand years of a constant drumming of the Churches preaching hatred and fear of the Jewish People claiming they are all guilty of Deicide killing Jesus.
Now the new target is Islam which is being demonized in the same way as the Jews or Native Americans or Africans who were needed as slaves or the People of the Philippines or Mexicans and so on.
The racist in this case Islamophobes will use any tool or trick in the book -the manual for racists such as appealing to issues which would increase their numbers so they appeal to the concerns of various groups from Evangelical Christians to secularists, to ethnic groups to finding issues which would pique the interests of liberals and progressives.
For instance after hearing about how women in some Muslim countries are treated such as in Afghanistan or Iran . Women in some countries are treated as second class citizens or are viewed as mere property they have few if any rights - Note not all Muslim countries impose such draconian laws.
But the damage is done whenever someone lumps together all Muslims as they extrapolate from these disturbing and immoral incidences of misogyny and human rights violations thereby perceiving all Muslims as behaving in this manner and believing that their religion gives them justification for their injustices .
There are Christians who interpret the Bible as telling them to go to war to mass murder a million Iraqis or two million Vietnamese or carpet bombing towns , villages, entire cities in the name of God to destroy Evil Islam .
If Islam is Evil and of the Devil or the Anti-Christ or a soulless people who do not value life in the way that Christians and Westerners do.
Islamophobia Racism in Canada
At Islamophobia Watch.com
see more entries on Islamophobia in Canada at Islamophobia Watch
OTTAWA — Racist graffiti has marred a sign marking the future site of a mosque in Barrhaven. The messages – "F*** Muslims," "Ragheads Go" – and a swastika were spray painted onto the sign at 3020 Woodroffe Ave., near Claridge Drive, between Thursday night and Friday morning.
Ottawa Citizen, 30 April 2010
Canada Free Press an extreme right-wing publication and Website blames Muslims for the rise in Islamophobia and distrust and hatred of all Muslims. But the author avoids the fact that there were those hyping hatred of Muslims long before the so called Ground Zero Mosque was proposed.
If much of the angst over Islam and Muslims is based upon over generalizations and guilt by association or collective guilt and ignorance about Islam it is up to cooler heads to to calm down the mobs who may be ready to take these issues and the conspiracy theories of the Anti-Muslim extremist seriously and take the next step performing acts of violence or calling for special laws to curb the rights of all Muslims in America , Canada and Europe.
Ground Zero Mosque: Beyond insensitive, it is insulting
By Rev. Michael Bresciani Canadian Free Press , August 24, 2010
If carried to extremes the new drive toward tolerance can be just another name for perversion. The old adage about “adding insult to injury” has become an American reality under the divisive policies and socialistic leanings of the Obama administration.
Now those who want to become the bastions of tolerance in America (Muslims) have decided to call Americans who are resisting the mosque, bigots. This doubletalk is not new for the Muslims but it is now a case of whining meets historical precedent and American heritage.
If it could be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that all those who don’t want this mosque in New York are dyed in the wool Islamophobes, reason would compel us to ask the question of how they got that way in the first place.
To be fair, wasn’t it the Muslims who kicked the first ball in this deadly game of someone else’s religion and culture against America? Wouldn’t the attack on the Trade Towers go down as the first home court injury to America? That being preceded by attacks on embassies, shopping centers, transportation systems and other places around the world; so is there some unfounded source for fearing or showing caution about the spread of Islam? Unless you have a very short memory, nothing in our caution can legitimately be labeled “unfounded.”
Let’s give honesty a chance here; there is no chance that this fear was born of bigotry. In a world where the laws of reciprocation (reaping what you sow) are still fully intact should anyone wonder why fear, defensiveness and repulsion are the response to what Islam is introducing to the world or to our nation?
Crusades Redux: Armed Christian Group to Guard Burn Koran Day 24 August 2010 by Garibaldi at Loonwatch.com,August 24, 2010
A group that proudly calls itself Right Wing Extreme has pledged to protect a church in Gainesville , Florida that is planning to hold a Koran burning on 9/11, according to WorldCorrespondents.com, which reports as follows.
“This Press Release entitled “Armed Christian Conservative group to protect church during burning of Quran” was shared to us by Prince Shannon Carson of Right Wing Extreme.
The Christian conservative organization Right Wing Extreme has offered its support and protection for the International Burn a Quran day.
Right Wing Extreme was founded in April of 2009 after the Department of Homeland Security’s report titled Right Wing Extremism.”
Unlike the infamous cross burnings of the Ku Klux Klan which were often staged on the property of opponents to intimidate them, the Koran burning will be held on the premises of Dove Ministries International, with their enthusiastic consent. The only laws that could be used against such an event would probably deal with air pollution rather than objectionable political expression. A case might be made that the Koran burning is a disturbance of the peace.
Unlike the Mohammed cartoon disputeof 2005, which sparked bloody riots, American Muslims have responded to the Dove Ministries provocation with American style media savvy. The Book of Signs Foundation has pledged to distribute 50 free Korans for every copy burned on 9/11. This puts Dove Ministries in a quandary. The bigger and more successful their Koran burning is, the more free copies will be distributed of the Koran.
Most Muslims in America seem to recognize that struggles for the hearts and minds of believers involve arguing and presenting one’s point of view. It is doubtful that a single Muslim will alter or change his or her faith because of the burning of the Koran.
In America, people missionize their religion and their politics. Book burnings of any sort turn people off. The scariest thing to any religious fanatic is the freedom one has in America to practice, change or reject one’s faith.
There are people who get their jollies desecrating the symbol of someone else’s faith, such as Andres Serrano in his infamous “Piss Christ” exhibit, in which he suspended a crucifix in a jar of urine. Most Americans, from devout Christians to avowed atheists and members of non Christian faiths, were disgusted by Serrano’s gratuitous slap at Christian believers. Most Americans feel the same way about the Koran burners at Dove Ministries as well.
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