Why Is It So Difficult To Criticize Islam Without Angrying It Deeply?

I think I figured out how it is possible that the large majority of people from the Muslim world would be so profoundly offended when their Prophet is criticized or made fun of. I mean, to them, it could very well look obvious, yet it seems they do not really understand why either. A lot of them just accept that someone would be killed for depicting the prophet Mohamed, even though we ask them why, in a way that we feel cannot be argued with. How is it possible that someone would be hated for openly making fun of something as mundane as religion, we ask? I think I can reasonably explain why they would accept the idea, believe it or not. I want to know what is to be done if we're going to help these people stop feeling so persecuted and if we’re going to finally gain the right to criticize Islam, as it should be, without threatening the people in it. The answer, I think, lies in our perceptions of what religion is versus where it should stand in relations to ethnicity. Help me out.

First, it is difficult to argue against the idea that Islam, to this day, is majorly against the advancement of secular culture. It is associated so directly to what I would refer, for lack of a better word, Arabian culture, that criticizing a religion tied so closely with it, appears (at least from my personal experience) to insult them, as people. Another factor to consider is how Muslims, despite their divisions, have the strength in numbers to lead us into being cautious about criticizing Islamic beliefs, even if it shouldn’t be so. Any critic, whether it is well intentioned or backed with incredibly solid and logical arguments, seems to backfire when it is targeted at Islam. More than often, it seems to be giving more reasons to feel justified, leading Islamic countries to cocoon themselves from modern secular culture. Unlike other ethnicities that are also extremely tied to their religion; the Jews, for example, the fact that they’re over a billion, somewhat gives them the mental ability to feel universally justified. It’s as if any strong criticism of Islam was a threat to their identity, integrity and intelligence, even when it’s not...

In a secular view, insulting religion doesn't necessarily equate to racial discrimination, and the fact that our western culture systematically ignores this, is the key point that prevents the western world from understanding why Muslims would be so offended. I have come to realize that a lot of Muslims try to say it, but it seems they do not understand what I am writing here, at least not enough to put it into the proper words that would make us understand. My goal is to help us both come to understand, through careful yet fortunate observations which I feel have led me to grasp some of this intricate psychology.

Let’s think for a second about this analogy: Let’s compare some white guy shouting racist comments towards blacks to your average non-Christian openly criticizing Christianity. Which is the worst, in the eyes of the average American, or European? Racism, isn’t it? Racism is undoubtedly the worst of those two things, at least according to our modern secular values. This is not to say that racism has been eradicated from the Western world, far from it. But even for the most racist among us in North America, it is extremely discouraged to make a racist statement publicly. It is not viewed as acceptable at all.

Have you ever seen a single Arabic person and expect him not to be a Muslim? It's as if their religion has so much grasp that it's nearly impossible for an Arabic person to not be a Muslim. But why doesn’t anyone seem to question this fact? Isn’t it fishy, considering that religion should be a choice? In fact, Muslims, in Muslim countries, are taught, from childhood, that the punishment for apostasy is death. The indoctrination is done to them so early in their life, and in such a strong and unquestionable way, that it achieves terrific results; it is almost irreversible. To them this is a good thing; to us, it’s just wrong.

In my opinion, the fact that Islam, as a religion, has been able to keep such a strong grasp, to this day, on the lives of the almost entirety of Arabic cultures is leading the Islamic world to a dangerous path. We all know that not only religion can be used to control masses, ii can also be a dangerous weapon. In America, some will argue, television is used for mass propaganda and it is difficult for the majority to avoid being brainwashed by many ideas that they would otherwise have never acquired as individuals. However, an average occidental still gets to make SOME choices about what morality should be; they chose whether they’ll be for or against abortion, whether they’ll be against slavery or not, whether they’ll vote for a black man or not.

It is possible to speak with a Muslim about what we dislike in Islam, without him getting angry. I have experienced it myself. It is difficult, however. Even as I was able to converse, I would feel the incredible pain that questioning one’s own identity can inflict on an indoctrinated individual. As we cannot tolerate being racially discriminated, they cannot tolerate negative criticism of Islam; they view is as their culture.

It may be sad to say, for most of us who wish for world peace, but secularism is not going to happen anytime soon in the Arab world. It could never be forced on Muslims. It is completely against their conception of what a religion should be and what place it should have in their life. Through what I have just explained, we can even understand the bottomless frustration of Muslims against non-Muslims when faced with debates like whether or not we should be banning the Burka in public spaces. The same issue arises: to us, it’s common sense and required for secularism, to them it’s a slap in the face, not as a Muslim but as an Arab. To us, it's freedom of speech; to them, it's against it. It is an insult to their culture, just as we would react to someone trying to deny our right to have a cultural background, just as we would react to a Muslim telling a White woman that wearing g-strings is degrading and wrong.

How can we possibly achieve a secular society, with Muslims living in it, if we do not agree on whether it’s okay to force someone to act secularly? Aren’t we stuck with the problem of having many kids arguing about who gets to play with the ball, while one of the kids sits on the ball, arguing that it should not be played with in the first place? How flexible can secularism be, without ending up betraying itself?

Can we find a temporary solution? I would like your opinion.

My opinion? tl:dr, next time give a short (paragraph maximum) summary.. You may have strong enough feelings on the subject to write that much, but you'll find few have strong enough feelings in it to read that much.

Its basically a "He said She said" argument.

On one hand, they think they are right, on the other hand, the other guys think they are right.

Thats what starts these "Holy Wars."

What you basically got here, is a failure to communicate.

Do we really need this ***brought up again?

Because of 9/11, its the only reason.

South Park showed Muhammed in an episode before 9/11 and no one cared, complained or even gave a crap. Now they don't show him or let him talk at all, but just mention him, and the creators get death threats.

It's going to take away before they clear the sand out of their vagina.

Or maybe you can learn to read. It's a shame that this is what the world is coming too; if it's not in twitter-style, it's not worth reading?

But, I digress:

The major problem is, as you said, how heavily impressed the religion is upon the residents of that area. I am fortunate in that I live in a highly multicultural area and am able to openly criticize Islam (though I don't, mind you) if I so duly desired. I can also have conversations about it and the entire state of a the Middle East in a negative light to Middle Easterners here without them feeling threatened or defensive, rather they seem almost simply acceptant to the idea that their land mass is raping itself dry.

The problem is that the only successful attempt at secularization arguably became a dictatorship that deprived people of their own rights in order to achieve modernization. That caused a massive backlash and ultimately hurt a lot more than it helped and gave traditional Middle Easterners a sort of "higher-than-though" complex that allow them to continually oppress their own people.

That's why Islam gets pissed off; because the only people in power are absolutely cracked.

See what assumptions get you.. I despise all those social networking sites, so no, it's not because it's not fashioned in a way compliant with Twitter, Myspace, Facebook or what have you..

I explained this, just because one person feels strongly enough to write all that, doesn't mean everyone cares enough to read that much, far from it.

What I said was actually meant to be helpful, as in many more would weigh in with ~intelligent~ opinions if they were to read the OP.

I think it's pretty obvious that there's a failure to communicate.

I tried to elaborate on why, because this looks to me as one of the biggest issues on Earth. I know that nobody will talk about it but perhaps it's simply because everyone feels it'll just makes things worse... And I'm wondering if understanding why there's a failure to communicate, as you say too well, can help find a solution. I'm probably not the only one to have tried. I realize many don't even care. But nevertheless, thanks for commenting.

You can't find a solution to this problem.. As long as different religions exist, so too will these types of problems.. Since I don't see religion disappearing anytime soon, I don't see these problems going either.

I did try to shorten, unfortunately I'm pretty bad at this. I hesitated to submit, but then I thought that I'd rather have 10 people read it out of 10000 then no one. If you did read it, thanks. I hope it'll help you understand Muslims. Maybe some will even come into the discussion, who knows. I'm confident this can stay a civilized discussion, if a discussion occurs. I'm an Atheist by the way, so not going to take sides. I just really like trying to understand these issues.

As I go to sleep. I'd like leave you with a quote from a very religious black man, which inspires me a lot, even if I'm not black, and even if I'm not religious.

"Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nothing to add. For anyone out there that was intimidated by the long initial post and know enough about Islam to see that "let's not talk about Islam" is strange to non-Muslims, I recommend reading.

I angry deeply over this subject.

Here is the main problem. They think they are right, and are unwilling to talk about the slightest possibility that they are wrong. Its either you join their religion or die a painful death.

Think I'm lying?

9/11, London Bombings, Spain Bombings, France Bombings, hell, its everywhere.

One of their 99 rules to live by is to kill all infidels, now you tell me that Muslims are peaceful.
Thats true, but he didn't have to experience the hate and terror of Islam. They weren't THAT active back then.

on the contrary, by writing a long, in-depth analysis, you create the best chance of winnowing out all the tl;dr meme spamming *** that can't actually sit down and think without straining their brain

maybe you can actually draw some responses from the few who will sit down, read a post carefully, think critically, and evaluate the argument on its respective merits and/or fallacies

of course, as the last few posts show, no method is foolproof

Yes, you forgot to include that having such a long post, you also keep the illiterate from being able to respond.

Why you responded is beyond me.

oh look ad hominem attacks thanks for elevating the discussion

there are several things you could call me and be correct, but illiterate isn't one of them, sorry

Yet you had nothing to add to it, except your own meme.

But you have surprised me, not only did you spell it right, but you also used it right.

meme? if you keep doing it, and i keep pointing it out, it's not a meme

it's just amusing that the guy who proclaims himself "Logic Man" is so prone to fallacies

Had to.

Lol, you people should learn to post without flying at eachothers throat after the first three replies.

They angrying.

All you have added to this conversation is several things:

A) You can't spell worth of a ***.
B) You are a hypocrite by posting a meme post against meme posts.
C) You place your opinion on something that not only was taken out of context, but also had nothing to do with this topic at all.
D) Your logic is flawed.

In essence, you have done nothing for the main conversation in of itself. You have also tried to take my words out of context by your constant edits to your posts.

Edit: Point proven...

Fixed. Thank me later.

Thanks :D

hey look a bunch of baseless accusations

i can do that too

A) you masterminded the IRS bombing
B) you created the swine flu
C) you've been banned from every message board you've posted on but this one for being generally insufferable(oh wait)

admittedly, my spelling isn't great, but i usually fix it

and i do edit my posts(see above)

Can't we just take Psyence out back and beat him/her?

Also, cox.

That'd be a hate crime.