APOLOGIA: Appendix 1 of Untangling Popular Anti-Israel Arguments

March 26, 2024

Appendix 1 of Untangling Popular Anti-Israel Arguments

Untangling Popular Anti-Israel Arguments: Critical Thinking about the Israel-Hamas War

Note to readers: See previous APOLOGIA post for Chapter 15. (Also, Table of Contents with links is listed below. Or download pdf of the whole book here.)

Note to critics: Please read the whole of my little book (including notes) before offering criticism. Thanks.

Appendix 1: Criticizing Islam is Islamophobic? (Part 1 of 2)

Objection: Pointing to the Islamic beliefs of Hamas terrorists is Islamophobic.

Reply: No, my drawing attention to Islam’s negative view of Jews (and women and non-Muslims) and my encouraging careful thinking about Islam (especially its founder whom radical Islamists take very seriously) are not instances of Islamophobia. Rather, these are reason-able, evidence-based concerns.

There’s much talk lately about Islamophobia, so let’s be clear on this at the get go: Muslims are people we should love and respect—and welcome.

Although I disagree deeply with Islam (the religion that centers itself on Muhammad and the Qur'an), I believe Jesus’ command to love my neighbour requires that I respect those with whom I disagree. After all, all people—including Muslims—are made in the image of God.

But let’s be clear on this, too: having reasonable, evidence-based concerns about Islam—especially when adherents closely follow the violent life and teachings of Muhammad—is not an instance of Islamophobia.

Please note: I am NOT saying that all Muslims are monolithic in their views, that all Muslims are terrorists or supporters of Hamas (or ISIS), nor that any Muslims should be treated with prejudice or in any way unjustly.

Rather, I am saying that we need to do some careful thinking.

With this end in mind, let’s assess a meme I often see circulating on the internet.

The meme has two pictures with a caption under each. The first picture is of a meeting of several white-robed-white-hooded Ku Klux Klan members. The caption: “No-one thinks that these people are representative of Christians.”

The second picture (immediately below the first) is of a dozen black-garbed-black-masked ISIS fighters with weapons at the ready. The caption: “So why do so many people think that these people are representative of Muslims?”

The apparent implication: just as the KKK isn’t Christian, so too ISIS (and Hamas) isn’t Islamic.

Let’s pause and think.

Most or all the Christians and Muslims I know are decent people, and, yes, we should protect them from being misrepresented. So far so good.

But the questions we should be asking are these: Does the KKK actually follow the example and teachings of Jesus? (Answer: clearly no.) Does ISIS (and Hamas) actually follow the example and teachings of Muhammad? (Answer: very apparently yes.)

The more I learn about the life and teachings of Muhammad (see resource list below), the more I am convinced that Muhammad was an extremely violent man bent on world domination by force—and he teaches his followers to be and do likewise. (It’s interesting that the present leader of ISIS has a PhD in Islamic Studies.)

Unlike Jesus, who shed his own blood for others to spread his message, Muhammad shed the blood of others to impose his message.

Now consider the notion of phobia. A phobia is an irrational or ungrounded fear, aversion, or hatred.

Consider arachnophobia, an irrational ungrounded fear or hatred of spiders. Clearly, it’s possible to have reasonable, non-phobic concerns about some spiders if the spiders display evidence of being harmful or lethal to humans.

In recent years I’ve seen too many public discussions shut down because people who raise important questions are dismissed as “phobic” when in fact they’re not. The if-you-disagree-then-you're-phobic card is a smokescreen against truth—it’s an ad hominem fallacy—and it misleads audiences untrained in logic.

In view of ISIS and Hamas and their close affiliation with Muhammad’s violent life and teachings, the challenge before us is threefold: (1) we should encourage Muslims who do not emulate Muhammad’s violence to continue doing so; (2) we should challenge Islamic leaders whenever they preach Muhammad’s violence as behaviour to be emulated; and (3) we should do 1 and 2 in such ways that show love, compassion, and respect to Muslims.

Yes, this is no small challenge. It also isn’t Islamophobia.

Speaking truth and loving others can—and should—go hand in hand.^1,2

NOTES

1. A version of this article appeared in my column/blog APOLOGIA in The Carillon, March 2, 2017. I have edited it to include Hamas (the original version only mentioned ISIS). In this book I include this appendix and the next appendix (also about Islamophobia) because it seems to me that atheist philosopher Sam Harris is for the most part correct when he states the following:

There are many things to be said in criticism of Israel, in particular its expansion of settlements on contested land. But Israel’s behaviour is not what explains the suicidal and genocidal inclinations of a group like Hamas. The Islamic doctrines of martyrdom and jihad do. These are religious beliefs, sincerely held. They are beliefs about the moral structure of the universe and they explain how normal people, even good ones, can commit horrific acts of violence against innocent civilians on purpose, not as collateral damage, and still consider themselves good. When you believe life in this world has no value apart from deciding who goes to hell and who goes to paradise, it becomes possible to feel perfectly at ease killing non-combatants or even using your own women and children as human shields. Because you know that any Muslims that get killed will go straight to paradise, for eternity. If you don’t understand that jihadists sincerely believe these things, you don’t understand the problem that Israel faces. The problem isn’t merely Palestinian nationalism or resource competition or any other normal terrestrial grievance. In fact, the problem isn’t even hatred, but there’s enough of that to go around. The problem is religious certainty. (Sam Harris, The Bright Line Between Good and Evil [Episode #340], Making Sense podcast, November 7, 2023.)

I quickly add that the problem is not merely religious certainty but a religious certainty in a particular religion that is dubious in terms of historical evidence, philosophical reasoning, and morality—a religion that is a death cult. Hence, there is a need to engage in careful, truth-seeking investigation concerning religion, especially Islam.

2. Recommended resources:

Books

Gabriel, Mark A. Islam and the Jews: The Unfinished Battle. Lake Mary, Florida: Charisma House, 2003.
Kilpatrick, William. Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012.
Murray, Douglas. Islamophilia: A Very Metropolitan Malady. Amazon KDP, 2020.
Qureshi, Nabeel. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A devout Muslim encounters Christianity, 3rd edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018.
Qureshi, Nabeel. Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016.
Sproul, R. C. and Abdul Saleeb. The Dark Side of Islam. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003.

Videos

Cahanovitc, Oren. Israelis must listen to the Palestinians! YouTube video, 15 minutes. Travelling Israel, March 9, 2024.
Spencer, Robert, et al. Islam: What the West Needs to Know. DVD (98 minutes). Produced and directed by Gregory M. Davis and Bryan Daly. Lorain, Ohio: Quixotic Media Productions, 2006.

Table of Contents (links)

Introduction

Chapter 1. Israel is engaging in colonial retaliation?

Chapter 2. Israel is a powerful state and thus the oppressor?

Chapter 3. Israel is not a legitimate state?

Chapter 4. Israel occupies Gaza?

Chapter 5. Gaza is like a Jewish ghetto?

Chapter 6. What about Gabor Maté?

Chapter 7. What about Gabor Maté, again?

Chapter 8. Israel targets a hospital?

Chapter 9. Israel’s attack on Gaza is as bad (or worse) as Gaza’s attack on Israel?

Chapter 10. Israel is wrong to cause Gaza to suffer?