5 ms·
is it a race now?
by KON_Air 10y ago
is it a race now?
- douche 10y agoWords no longer actually have meaning, or did you not get the memo? There was a meeting scheduled to go over it, but it was on Google Calendar...
- Someone1234 10y agoAnd by "it" you mean the Islamic religion I assume? I don't see what distinction you're trying to make. Is it somehow more acceptable to be prejudice against an entire religion than it is to be prejudice against an entire race? Is that really the discussion you want to have, that some prejudice is acceptable and other prejudice is not?
- vox_mollis 10y agoWell, yes. The nominal standard here is whether the prejudice is against something the individual has choice over. One does not choose one's race, whereas once does choose one's own religion, even if raised in an environment suffused with it. Choice and agency is the standard by which most people draw the line between generic prejudice and hate. It's no coincidence that gay rights dramatically improved along with widespread acceptance that, regarding sexual orientation, "I was born this way".
- openasocket 10y agoIt's still the result of stereotypes and over-generalization. Islam is a religion with over a billion followers: trying to make any sort of statement about all of its followers is a fool's errand. I'm reminded of what my religious studies professor said: "There is no such thing as Christianity: there are Christianities". The Christianity of Pope Francis is not the Christianity of the Westboro Baptist Church, and the same holds true for Muslims.
- Spivak 10y agoJust as much as white/black are races. A less snarky answer is that just like Jews there is a separation of cultural Muslims and religious Muslims, the former representing a race.
- selimthegrim 10y agoOh really? Expand on this?
- Spivak 10y agoIt's an important disclaimer that race is ultimately a human construct so when if say that something is a race I mean that people either identify themselves or a class of people as belonging to that race. Back to the point, certain religions are so ingrained culturally and politically that people start to identify themselves culturally and ethnically with the faith because of the people's shared ethical values, history and background. This would have also happened with Christianity if it weren't for the fact that it's the 'default' in the western world. A person who grows up in the Muslim world, is taught Islamic history, is raised with Islamic values, and practices national and ethnic 'rituals'^1, but is nonreligious might choose to identify themselves as racially Muslim but not religiously. Conversely a light skinned person in predominately Christian area who finds Islam later in life might say they are racially white, American, or identify with their ancestors ethnicity, but identify themselves as religiously Muslim. ^1 Despite the connotation this isn't necessarily religious. The 4th of July celebration in the US is a ritual.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- selimthegrim 10y agoI'm not sure what the criterion here is. Certain Muslim countries legally prohibit certain sects from identifying themselves as Muslims, and Israel prevents Messianic Jews from identifying as Jewish. Perhaps you mean culturally or civilizationally? This line of thinking can lead to dark places, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sells#Christoslavism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sells#Christoslavism