Thanks to the presidential election this year, religion has never been far from the headlines. While discourse over the role of Christianity in politics has taken up far too much of the news coverage and the time of the candidates, the religion that has dominated the national conversation is, of course, Islam. While this isn’t new – Islam has been at the forefront since 9/11 – the discussion of Islam, its adherents, and the place that it has in the U.S. has taken on a couple particularly frightening turns. Most of them are due to the erstwhile Donald Trump, whose greatest hits of the election so far include calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, degrading the family and memory of a Muslim solder killed in action, and suggesting that Muslims hate “us.” No word yet on who “us” may be.
But I’m not here to talk about Donald Trump. Donald Trump is an obvious example of Islamophobia at its worst, and most people who subscribe to leftist and liberal philosophies are quick to decry him. Unfortunately, the left wing of American politics has an Islam problem of its own. The left, when the subject of Islam comes up, tends to swing in the absolute opposite direction, swearing that Muslims can do no wrong, that their religion is a religion of peace, and that jihadists and terrorists who kill in the name of Allah “aren’t real Muslims.” Full disclosure: I am a liberal. And I think the free pass given to Islam by liberals is a disaster in the making.
Most liberals think it’s the height of political incorrectness to ask a Muslim their opinion on terrorists or 9/11. Not all Muslims are terrorists, of course. But not all Christians support the arch-conservative views of evangelical churches, and they’re expected to disavow them if asked or be labeled a “bigot.” Similarly, Jews are expected by the left to utterly disavow Israel, the one place in the world where it’s safe to be Jewish, or they’re considered a “bad Jew” who “hates Muslims” and “is complicit in the Palestinian genocide.” (I could devote a whole article to why the last statement is nonsense.) The left, rather than crying, “Not all Christians!” or “Not all Jews!,” fully expects members of those religions to readily and willingly disavow the extremist, bigoted, and sometimes violent views held by some adherents to their religion. Why won’t the left ask the same thing of Muslims?
Extremists of any movement or religion are usually disavowed by the mainstream. For example, when a self-described feminist says or does something reprehensible, other feminists are quick to decry them as “fake” feminists, misrepresenting “true” feminism. Similarly, when a Republican politician breaks ranks with the party and dares to compromise with Democrats, they’re referred to by their fellows as a RINO, or 'Republican in Name Only.' However, it’s the self-identification of the errant Republican or the outspoken feminist that matters, not what their compatriots say about them. Their actions still reflect on the group that they claim to be part of. The same holds true for radical Muslims. Their actions reflect on mainstream Islam, and therefore, it’s a responsibility of mainstream Islam to address them. Liberals should expect it of them.
I’m not suggesting that Islamophobia isn’t a problem in the United States. Nor am I suggesting that we shouldn’t examine our own prejudices and biases toward Islam as a religion. Instead, I’m asking that we on the left wing view Islam with the same critical eye as we view the other major religions in the world. We can respect someone’s beliefs without ignoring the history of said beliefs. We can support freedom of religion without denying that with such freedom comes the responsibility to examine religion and identify the ways in which it impinges on the freedom of others. We liberals want everyone to be treated equally. Let’s hold Islam to the same standards as we hold other religions. If we ask members of other religions to combat the extremism and violence in their midst, why can’t we ask the same of Islam?
