ORIGINAL COMPOSE DATE: 19 September, 2006
When I got done reading Eskow’s rant about Atheists and their supposed bigotry against Muslims (The Sad State of Atheism), I felt compelled to answer. I will address several of his points individually.
ESKOW: “Finally, there’s common ground between these two groups: they both kick Muslims around, and they both disagree with me!”
I would not use the word “kick” to describe what Atheists do when it comes to debating the theology of world religions, but Eskow fails to realize that Atheists are not indiscriminate. Atheists think all god belief is silly, no matter what religion happens to believe in any said god or gods.
ESKOW: “Harris is now ready to pimp GOP talking points in order to make his case.”
While I certainly did not agree with everything in Harris’ book, Eskow fails to notice that Harris also lambastes the fundamentalists among the camps of Christianity and Judaism in addition to his rant against Islam.
ESKOW: “Specifically, Harris would not acknowledge the research of Martin E. Marty and the Fundamentalism Project…[...] Among the Project’s findings was the discovery that fundamentalists, who average roughly 20% of any major faith today, all seek to acquire power using similar techniques and belief systems.“
And therein lays the false premise behind Eskow’s statement and entire article. While it may be true that only an average of 20% of all believers of any given religion may be fundamentalists, the study does not document extremists.
Fundamentalism is not the problem with Islam: extremism is the problem. While Christianity has had its share of terrorists (Atlantic Olympics bombing, abortion clinic bombings, physician assassinations, etc.), they are nowhere near the numbers that come from Islam.
When someone blows up an Islamic building, the Christians are not out dancing in the streets. When an Islamic cleric demonizes Christianity or calls the United States the “Great Satan,” the Christians are not burning the flags of Iran or Syria in the streets.
Eskow is ignoring the 800 pound gorilla by pretending that the chimpanzees represent the entire primate order. It is ludicrous, at best.
I will be the first to admit that there is a large contingency of Islamic followers worldwide that are not extremists and try to follow a life of peace. However, it is naïve to think that somehow Islam does not breed a greater number of extremists within the ranks of Fundamentalists.
ESKOW: “Their beliefs share much more in common with fundamentalists of other faiths than they do with their co-religionists, a finding that challenges the notion that Islam is an especially evil religion.”
The main difference between Islam and Christianity today is that Islam lacks a reformation. Christianity, at the hands of Martin Luther and his followers, shook the Christian world and laid the foundation for a reformation: the final transformation from “convert by the sword.” While elements of swordsmen remained embedded in Christianity (and still do to this day), the overwhelming majority of Christians, to coin an old adage, “took a chill pill.”
This is not the case with Islam. Islam has not had a reformation of any kind and that has placed it in an odd predicament with the modern world. Instead of opening itself up, it has closed itself in.
While Islamic Fundamentalism may be on par with Christian Fundamentalism, as the study suggested, it does not address the issue of extremism, which is the major threat to the civilized world.
ESKOW: “This finding challenges an assumption that is deeply cherished by Harris and his ilk, and equally beloved by Bauer and the Christian Right: that Muslims are more extremist than other people.”
The findings do not discount that assumption. The findings only correlate the pious views of Fundamentalism across the religious spectrum, which is to be expected and a study really was not needed to know that. There is no assumption made about the extremes of Islam.
ESKOW: “Besides being willing to do Karl Rove’s dirty work, the Harris crowd revels in using anti-Muslim bigotry to promote their conception of atheism.”
I fail to see how that is the case. When referring to 9/11 and other terrorists attacks, they are generally used as a reference to the “evils of religion,” not the “evils of Islam.” While those events certainly lend credence to the extremism beyond Fundamentalism of Islam, they are more indicative of the greater struggle against the brainwashing that is religion and the gullibility of people to personify their faith in martyrdom, regardless of the faith they believe in. It just so happens to be a fact that the greatest numbers of the martyr-willing crowd are Islamic.
How can anyone deny that fact?
ESKOW: “Nothing would disappoint Russell more, however, than their calculated appeals to bigotry.”
How is criticizing a theology bigotry? That is like saying that criticizing the GOP is bigotry. The dictionary defines bigotry as “Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion.”
While I cannot speak for Harris, I can certainly aver for myself that I do not hate Islam, or any other religion for that matter. I certainly find god-belief to be silly and irrational, but I do not hate the theists or their belief system. What I do despise is those that use their faith to wreak havoc around the world, kill in the name of their god or gods, and use their faith to excite their martyrdom dreams into a reality with 100 pounds of explosives in a crowded marketplace.
Speaking directly and succinctly about the religious issues of our times, especially when those issues are killing people, is not bigotry: it is the correct response of a responsible human being. It is our moral duty to speak out against such atrocities taken in the name of gods, no matter what altar they kneel before. It is our moral duty to stand up for the human species as a whole, no matter what tribe, ethnic group, race, or creed they come from.
Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Humanists, and every other religious and non-religious group needs to stand side-by-side to thwart all extremism that sees suicide or killing as the only outcome of its beliefs.
There may be a bunch of monkeys standing in the theology court, but only one 800 pound gorilla: Islamic extremism.
ESKOW: “How can atheists work with people of faith to create a better society if they won’t even read and learn about their fellow human beings?”
How can Atheists work with people of faith whose only desire is to kill them where they stand because they are “with Satan?” How can Atheists work with people of faith when those same people view Atheists at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to morality and the “American vision” (recent study by University of Wisconsin)?
At one point I joined the Interfaith Alliance in Mobile in order to start building that bridge and working with faith groups to better humanity and find some common ground. What I found was an unwillingness to work with me because I was an Atheist.
Where is the bigotry coming from here?
Such action against Atheists is unwarranted and nothing more than true bigotry based on ignorance. Speaking out against Islamic aggression and the role the Islamic theology plays on that aggression is not bigotry at all.
If Islam was less of an extremist religion and Hinduism was the cause of world terrorist attacks on the level of Islam, then we would be talking about Hinduism instead of Islam. This has nothing to do with race or nationality and everything to do with the silliness of willing to die for one’s god because of a warped and twisted theological belief. That is not irrational or bigoted on our part: it is the responsible and rational thing to discuss.
ESKOW: “I’m not defending rioters. I’m simply pointing out some inherent biases in the comment. Ultra-Orthodox Jews have rioted in Israel, and one of them killed the peacemaking Prime Minister. Christians have rioted, too. People tend to riot because they feel powerless, not because they’re inherently evil. (Killing’s another matter – it’s always indefensible.)”
Eskow seems to not grasp the reality of the situation. Of course there are terrorists in the religious camps of Christianity, Hinduism, and others. Of course Christians, Hindus, and others have done some bad things. No one has ever discounted that.
The fact of the matter is that Islam is breeding extremists above and beyond the 20% of Fundamentalists. Fundamentalists are not the problem (except when it comes to politics and the desire to create a theocracy): extremism is the problem.
ESKOW: “Far more Americans have been child molesters, percentage-wise, yet it would be bigotry to say we live in a nation of pederasts.”
If we were the only country creating pedophiles at an alarming rate above and beyond the average worldwide, then yes, we should talk about what in America causes such a high rate of pedophilia. If Islam is the only religion in the world that is creating terrorists at an alarming rate above and beyond the worldwide average, then yes, we should talk about what in Islam causes such a high rate of extremism and a willingness to die for one’s faith and kill others in the process.
ESKOW: “A study released today showed a 30% increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the U.S. between 2004 and 2005.”
It is unfortunate that people behave in such a manner. It should be noted that not a single demonstration by American Muslims took place after the Pope’s comments. I can almost guarantee that Atheists were not part of those hate crimes.
ESKOW: “The innocent victims of these crimes are being persecuted because of misunderstanding, fear, and hate. Is this really the kind of climate progressive atheists want to help engender?”
Discussing the issues and trying to identify the root of the problem does not engender those crimes. Hatred, misunderstanding, and fear certainly do, but the Atheists are trying to understand the causes of such hatred – not promote it. It is the hatred that has the Atheist asking, “What about Islam causes such extremism to the point of blowing one’s self up and taking innocent people with you?”
Islam is just the current big head of the religious hydra. It is not the only head: just the one doing most of the damage. We should not be afraid to ask questions about the dangers of theology, especially when they promote murder and genocide: no matter what religion is spawning such.
ESKOW: “The enemy isn’t Islam or Christianity or Judaism or atheism — it’s fundamentalism, those rigid believers who over-identify with a “religion” and authoritarianism, not with the Transcendent or a belief system.”
The entire article was a waste of words because in the end Eskow agrees with the Atheists: Fundamentalism is a problem. However, there is a larger picture here: what about certain theologies creates violent extremism?
It is a valid question and one that I personally will keep asking, no matter what Eskow or others think about me.
