Islamophobia can be a genuine condition

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Feb 17, 2014 at 14:38

Dear Dr Pipes, while Isamists repeat that Islamophobia should not exist ad people deny that they are not islaophobes, Islamophobia may be a genuine condition. First of all, fear of reigious preachrs,cult and groups is not unheard of. At different times and places of history we all have been wary of aggressive religious groups like Hare Krishnas and evangelical christians. A few things about Islam must indeed cause concerns among non-muslims.

A few examples are: a) Islamic political set ups are extremely unsymmetric. Freedoms afforded to minorities in Islamic countries are very limited compared to the rights demanded by Islamists where they are in minority. b) Islamic laws of marriage are also very unsymmetric. Need anything be addedhere. c) Islamic laws about men and women follow the "different but equal" dictum. That can never be guaranteed. In fact, Islamic laws about men and women follow the 'we know what is best for you' dictum. Which is even worse. d) Muslim majority societies do not give anyone any room until they hit the 98%-muslims threshold. The current hotspot toward that goal is northern Nigeria. Even as I right this a silent migration of non-muslims out of northern Nigeria might be occurrng without anyone noticing it.

Rather than dismissing Islamophobia as non-existent, societies should ponder the causes behind it.

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