I think being ?frightened of the events that have been occurring in Paris, Saudi Arabia and Africa in regards to Islamist extremism is a natural ?reaction.
It is the reaction of Amerians, ?Europeans, Saudi Arabians and Africans alike.
However, the only ?reason I could think to not be scared would be because that fear is exactly what ?organizations like ISIS are ?attempting to inflict upon us — unless, of course, you would want to use your fear to justify your ?xenophobia.
It seems as though Fox News and other ?conservative think tanks have begun implicitly ?arguing for a removal or, at minimum, an ostracization of Muslim people.
Through their falsified sense of fortitude, ?right-leaning media conglomerates speak out against ISIS, but in a way that has also targeted ?everyday, moderate ?Muslims.
And it has, as if unknowingly, promoted a shallow understanding of an entire religious ?following with the prerequisite for being afraid of them.
In the face of such ?bigotry, I find it important to truly consider how a sample of Muslims from around the world actually feels towards ?extremist political attacks that have occurred in recent months.
A 2006 Gallup poll intent on accruing Muslim attitudes about acts of ?extremism generalized those interviewed into two groups: political radicals and moderates.
Overwhelmingly, the political radicals supported acts of terrorism, while the moderates ?overwhelmingly opposed them.
One interesting statistic: 94 percent of political ?radicals believe religion is an important part of everyday life.
Ninety percent of moderates believe the same thing.
This lends some credence to the statement I made in a column I wrote two weeks ago.
Just because there are Muslims offended by the Charlie Hebdo caricatures, for example, doesn’t mean they want to kill or hurt anyone. Making such assumptions also leads to making ?generalizations.
Indeed, the political radicals only made up 7 percent of Muslims ?interviewed across 10 countries, the highest concentration being in the area of Egypt.
The attitudes being presented in Western media to ideologically combat entire religions seem to suggest some potentially nefarious action, yet no one wants to follow their feeble logic to its ?conclusionary end.
You want to target a violent sect inside a much larger, non-violent sect, but where does one draw the line?
We will continue to fight those who threaten us at home, as well as our allies, but effective ostracization would flounder, and all ?other alternatives are ?essentially considered ?unethical.
However, if enough fear is pumped into a people, the consideration for ?ethical concern is quite ?minuscule and instead a dramatic, over-arching and unreasonable fear for extreme measure takes its place.
Fear is a powerful ?motivator.
But sweeping generalizations towards a religious faith that seek to discredit and negate any positive or ?redeeming qualities is just as bad as having a propaganda ?machine doing so.
michoman@indiana.edu
