An Oxymoron
Yesterday, the world learned, again, of a horrific attack carried out in the name of Islam. This time the attack involved a suicide bomber and took place in southern Turkey, at a WEDDING ceremony. The perpetrator is believed to have been aligned with ISIS and the attack is believed to have been a reaction to increased security measures carried out recently by Turkey near the Syrian boarder. Reportedly, 22 people were killed and 94 injured. Surrounding the area after the explosion were crowds of people chanting “Allahu Akbar.”
The prevalence of barbaric attacks carried out in the name of Islam is truly astonishing. They occur nearly EVERY DAY. They are carried out with bombs, guns, knives, axes, gasoline, trucks and airplanes. They are carried out with basically ANYTHING that might serve as a weapon. The attacks are, potentially, EVERYWHERE.
Which brings me to the topic of my commentary today, which is about a single word: “Islamophobia”.
Every time one of Islams’s gruesome attacks is carried out, the liberal Islamic apologists immediately pick up microphones, video cameras, editorial pages and computer keyboards and vehemently exclaim how the attack had “NOTHING to do with Islam”. For the HUNDREDTH time they say this! They then immediately begin to fret and worry about the “Islamophobia” that they feel is sure to follow. Because these attacks have become so incredibly common. the term “Islamophobia” is used a LOT! A real LOT!
For this reason, I think it’s important to point out that the term “Islamophobia” is inherently fallacious and is, in actuality, an oxymoron.
Now, many of you know that an oxymoron is a term that is inherently self contradictory. Examples of oxymorons are usually humorous: “Government Intelligence”, “Jumbo Shrimp”, “Rap Artist”, etc! The oxymoron of “Islamophobia” is, however, ANYTHING but humorous.
The reason why I maintain that “Islamophobia” is self contradictory is simple: The term “phobia” is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as an “extreme or irrational fear or aversion” to something. The semantic emphasis here is on the term “irrational.” Jungle explorers and trekkers don’t have “Tigerphobia”, they have FEAR of tigers!
And so it is with Islam. With attacks on innocents occurring nearly every day, with locations spread throughout our nation and throughout the world, it’s NOT a phobia. It’s a justified, rational FEAR. This, of course, should NOT be surprising, as fear is the goal of all terrorism.
Now, recognizing this unfortunate reality does does not mean we have to fear every Muslim, most Muslims of even many Muslims. Nor does it preclude, of course, terror attacks by non Muslims. But the constant unrelenting jihad shows Islam to be different from ALL of the world’s other extant religions. One that we SHOULD fear. It is NOT a phobia.
The term “Islamophobia”, then, is an oxymoron that is self contradictory and deliberately misleading. There are NO “Islamophobes”. There are people who are rightfully wary of a religion in whose name daily attacks, often fatal, on innocent people are carried out.