Photo courtesy of the National Post, URL http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/26/tasha-kheiriddin-arab-spring-leads-to-shariah-autumn/
I have to begin by saying that I have no conclusive evidence that shows that disike of Islam and muslims in general runs highest among conservative ranks. That people on the right of the political spectrum somehow protest against Islam more than those on the left or in the center.
But it has occured to me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, that conservatives and their publications in Canada have almost always portraied the current and past political quagmires and citizen revolts in the middle east in a negative light. The most recent such portrayals come from several National Post columnists, in which the Arab Spring, a revolutionary movement that swept across the middle east throughout this year’s spring and summer, lately culminating with the capture and death of Lybia’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been portrayed as largely a waste of effort in intervention from Allied Forces, including Canada, and N.A.T.O.
One particular column vaguely hints that Canada, N.A.T.O. and the U.S. should have directly involved themselves in shaping the direction of the conflict by either commiting ground troops to the various rebel movements in Tunisia, Egypt and Lybia or that they should have completely taken over the liberation effort.
Although such proclamations are rare, I cannot help but notice the vitriol reserved for Islam in such articles.The wanton speculation that once liberated these middle eastern countries will surely descend into religious extremism, that their newly appointed leaders will welcome the most rabbid and violating of human rights elements of Sharia and possibly allow these countries to become the new havens for terrorist cells in the region.
Throwing around accusations that Iran was the instigator and financier of the recent asassination plot against Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Washington, is one such case of jumping the gun, and assuming that since Iran is one of the few Islamic theocracies in Persia with anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments, and with an active nuclear agenda and programme, that the country’s leadership is guilty of the act.
I speculate that many conservatives doubted at the onset the success and force of the change that the Arab spring has brought to the middle east, and that some actually wished that the uprisings would fail. There’s an underlying sense in Canada, something that I’ve noticed coming from most of my right-of-center friends and aquaintances, that Islam and democracy are so incompatible that muslims will never be able to trully embrace freedom until they relinquish most of the teachings of their religion. A sort of a hucksterish way of saying that most muslims are succeptible to extremist tendencies inherently built into in their creed.
Not only is this public sentiment furthest from the truth but it is also born out of the conservative credo itself. The instinct to preserve one’s own way of life in it’s most original form. Thus, to conservatives, Islam itself in all it’s forms is the enemy.
Some conservatives may say that this kind of speculation is hogwash, unsuported by actual statistical figures, but I say until those that claim Islam and democracy are incompatible change their tune, the majority of the discrimination against muslims will come from the right and far-right camps.
Fortunately, there is one organization, at least in the U.S., that is dedicated to passively combating discrimination against Muslims, and that is My Fellow American. You can check out their message of tolerance on their website at http://myfellowamerican.us/. There is much need for such an organization here in Canada.
For more information on this article and it’s highly speculative content, please take the time to read the following articles http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/26/tasha-kheiriddin-arab-spring-leads-to-shariah-autumn/ and http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/12/peter-goodspeed-irans-alleged-assassination-plot-borders-on-being-act-of-war/.
