Over at FrontPage Magazine (via RaymondIbrahim.com), I discuss why Muslim persecution of Christians and other minorities is especially damaging to Islam’s image:
Which of the following three headlines is most difficult for the media””including the usual array of liberal pundits, apologists, academics, and politicians””to whitewash or rationalize away? Which most exposes Islam’s inherent intolerance?
A) “Allahu Akbar” screaming Muslims fire rockets into Israel
B) “Allahu Akbar” screaming Muslims riot and commit acts of violence in Europe
C) “Allahu Akbar” screaming Muslims torch a Christian church in a Muslim country
The answer is C””Christian persecution.
Why?
Because in both scenarios A and B, Muslims will always be portrayed and seen as the “underdogs–”and hence always exonerated for their behavior. No matter how violent or ugly, no matter how many Islamic slogans are shrieked””thus placing their behavior in a purely Islamic context””Muslim violence against the West and Israel will always be dismissed as a product of the weak and outnumbered status of Muslims””their status as underdogs, which the West tends to romanticize. And so they will always get a free pass, without further ado.
They may be screaming and rioting, firing rockets and destroying property””all while calling for the death and destruction of the “infidel” West and/or Israel to cries of “Allahu Akbar!” Still, no problem. According to the aforementioned array of pundits, apologists, academics, and politicians, such bloodlust is a natural byproduct of the frustration Muslims feel as an oppressed minority, “rightfully” angry with the “colonial” West and its Israeli proxy. Indeed, that is precisely how even the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaeda were rationalized away by many “experts–”even as al-Qaeda’s own words exposed their animus as a direct product of Muslim doctrine not temporal grievances.
But if Muslims get a free pass when their violence is directed against those currently stronger than them, how does one rationalize away their violence when it is directed against those weaker than them, those who have no political influence whatsoever? Consider the most obvious of these scenarios, the growing epidemic of Muslim persecution of Christians. From one end of the Islamic world to the other””whether in Arab lands, African lands, Asian lands, or Sinic lands, wherever Muslims are a majority””the largest non-Muslim religious group, Christians, suffer untold atrocities.
The rationalizations used to minimize Muslim violence against the West and Israel simply cannot work here””for now Muslims are the majority, and they are the ones violent and oppressive to their minorities, often in ways that would make the worst Israeli treatment of Muslims look kind and benevolent….