I recently was talking with a friend about whether or not it was helpful to use the word Islamophobia. Neither my friend or I would be by default what you might consider bought into the so called Woke agenda. Yet, in regards to the specific situation we both thought that the word “Islamophobia” might legitimately be used to describe a situation. In the end we chose not to use that word, primarily because of the grief we were likely to get and the accusations of being “woke”.
Why did we reach that conclusion? Well, it was about the risk of being misheard. You see, the term is controversial and as yet not fully defined. A lot of people would perceive it as redundant and indeed a label used to frustrate free speech and especially criticism of Islam as a religion, the Quran and particularly/specifically both Islamist movements and those who might be seen to have a political agenda of Islamisation.
Now I write as an Evangelical Christian and so as someone who strongly disagrees with the tenents of Islam. Muslims would actually agree with me on that and find it quite insulting if I or someone else pretend that we agree. This strong disagreement is not a barrier to friendship and conversation. What this means is that I too would have no time for any labels or laws that would prevent such legitimate challenge and disagreement. I would add that I also take the view that whilst hopefully common decency and courtesy should kick in when we are tempted to be offensive that offense is not something we should regulate through the law. So, even if criticism is not legitimate, even where it boils down to insults and lampooning, legally we should allow people as much freedom with their speech as possible. This should be true of Christianity too. We don’t need blasphemy laws to protect us.
However, I believe that one of the primary concerns behind the term “Islamophobia” is that religion and criticism of religion can easily become cover for something different. A person can claim to be challenging or lampooning Islam when in fact their real target is specific ethnic groups. The language of invasion gives us a clue here as the focus on specific cultural factors and places. When people begin to talk in derogatory terms about Bradford or Birmingham, then it is because they have specific Muslim immigrants in mind. We are talking about those of Pakistani and Afghan origin.
It’s at this point that Islamophobia becomes a real thing and a problem because whilst criticism of Islam is not racist, using Islam as a cover for steering up fear and hatred of Pakistanis and Afghanis is.
And, I think this is where the rubber hits the road. Let me pick up on another problem phrase. I’ve noticed in the past few weeks, an increased tendency for people to complain that they are accused of being “bigoted, intolerant and far right” for simply expressing Biblical views. Further, they argument runs that if you don’t get called those things then you must be watering down your faith. Now, the reality is that most of us have been called all kinds of things because of our Biblical beliefs. However, in my experience, you don’t tend to get accused of being far right for articulating what the Bible says. Indeed, I am certain that I’ve never been accused of that, even if people have disliked my views, even if they have considered me right-wing and disliked that political wing in general. I would suggest that the reason people are seen as “far right” is that they are expressing views that have been long considered “far right”, the reason that they are considered racist is because they have said things that actually are racist. What they are doing is seeking to legitimise those views by smuggling them in with all the contentious views that Christians do have. In the same way, because it is possible to define and distinguish Islamophobia as something distinct from passionate disagreement with Islam, we should recognise it as such and not seek to minimise it or cover it over as another aspect of Biblical views making us politically incorrect. Christians who are quick to dismiss Islamophobia as woke nonsense need to think carefully about what exactly it is that they are opposing.
Faithroots 