Although liberals have been quick and careless in hurling accusations of Islamophobia at opponents of the Ground Zero/Park 51 cultural center, there is something historically and philosophically amiss in some conservative ruminations about the Islamic faith. It really shouldn’t be so hard to oppose Islamic militancy, push back forcefully against those who downplay the threat of Al Qaeda as well as a nuclear Iran, and, at the same time, not suggest that all Muslims are, basically, nuts.
Those who wish to fight the jihadis must be careful not to allow that zeal to overflow into a general mistrust of all Moslems. It is wrong. Perhaps more importanly, it is stupid. We have enough problems fighting the jihadis. Do we really want to make all Moslems the enemy?
Still, even as it is important to distinguish who are enemies are, as I did here, for example, it it just as important for those who cry "Islamophobia" whenever an effort is made to address the threat of jihadis to realize that they do are conflating Islam with jihadis:
But what I want to emphasize now, even as so many on the left are complaining that "Islamophobia" is on the rise in America, is that it isn't Islamophobia to fight the jihadis. And it does no favor to the vast majority of non-violent Moslems here in America if people cry "Islamophobia" every time someone raises worries about jihadis. Doing so just implies that jihadis must represent all Moslems, since the assumption is that all Moslems will be offended if we target jihadis.
Getting the jihadis will help the vast majority of Moslems who don't want to be associated with terrorism to work with our government and Islamic leaders here to stamp out jihadi ideology, identify and nab the jihadis, and make sure that Moslems can build new lives as Americans--just like other immigrant groups have done over the last several centuries.
I was speaking specifically in that post of dealing with jihadis here in America, but it applies more broadly. Don't those on the left who react to anger against jihadis by jumping up to defend Islam implicitly link jihadis to Islam by reacting to an attack on jihadis as if it an attack on Islam?
We have enemies. They are al Qaeda and the other jihadis who want to kill us. We also have actual and potential allies who are key to ultimately defeating the jihadis. That large audience is called Islam.
Focus and fight.
