Another apologist speaks: Islamophobia as a public health issue

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Sep 22, 2016 at 22:52

Dear Dr Pipes:

Islamic apologists are under great pressure. Everyday they have to come up with more and more stretched arguments to defend their case. And, of course, they do not like to own responsibility of any kind. In a bizarre argument a very qualified Islamic apologist by the name of Goleen Samari presented Islamophobia as a public health issue. You see, dear readers, many of us wonder whether Islamophobia exists or does not exist. We also wonder if at least some part of it may be partly justified. But should it matter to an apologist? Of course, not. If you can take advantage of a situation to benefit your cause, then why not? Ms Samari presents Islamophobia as a public health issue. She argues that since they are discriminated against, Muslims American and those other Americans who look like Muslims, cannot get medical treatment and that makes it a public health issue. Ms Samari argues that since Muslim women do not have enough social support they face depression. I wonder how long we will have to wait before there is demand for special medical clinics for Muslims and for those Americans who look like Muslims? Won't it be a great idea if we have taxpayer funded clinics in America for Muslims?

I am not cooking it up, dear readers. Here is a link to Ms Samari's article in Dallas News: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20160921-why-we-should-treat-islamophobia-as-a-public-health-issue.ece

Now let me give some advice to Ms Samari. There will be no Islamophobia if Muslims follow the golden rule. The issue is not whether Muslims are discriminated against in USA. USA gives enough freedom to most immigrants and minorities and most immigrants are thankful for it. The issue is that discrimination against non-Muslims is blatant and in-your-face in Islamic majority countries. The words democracy, freedom and secularism are neither recognized nor admired in many countries between Morocco to Indonesia and most of these countries are constitutionally Islamic. Yes, there may be some cases of discrimination in the USA but they are few and far between. Muslim apologists should try harder to establish democracy in the, so called, Islamic lands and, then, we will all be able to create a relatively happy planet in which there will be no Islamophobia.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".