Islamophobia

Have you noticed that on blogs it is commonplace to deride Arabs, Islam, Muslims, etc. in ways that nobody would think about to other ethnic or religious groups? Case in point: in a discussion last month on another blog I expressed my view that the war in Iraq was unjust and would only cause more violence worldwide in the long run over the next decade. Several people, but one in particular, began to argue with me…not so much on the merits of the war, but on the inferiority of Arab culture and people. I was stunned.

Over that past month I have paid attention to various posts on Islam over the web. Some of the comments that were made have floored me, and they are not worth repeating.

As a follower of Jesus I think that it is necessary to stand for positions that are important to me. It is even productive to have ’spirited’ discussions. However, I am really tired of all of the junk that is written about Arabs personally.

Most of the time arabs are charicatured as hate filled, irrational, backwards, and good-for-nothing. After living in the Middle East for several years I can say that large parts of the blogosphere need to reevaluate their stereotypes with reality and to take a good long look at possible seeds of bigotry.

I am not saying that we cant talk about things that we disagree on, but we should not ever ad hominem.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful day with your family. Remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. Jesus came to the world and was born in a humble place to save sinners. Glorify Him today!