Waleed Aly conflates criticism of Islam as an ideology with islamophobia, racism, ultra-right nationalism and white supremacy.
The Christchurch mosque massacre gives him the chance to push this line.
Shorter Aly: Criticism of Islam leads to massacre of Muslims.
Maybe he believes this. Or maybe he's duplicitous. He's a Muslim and a key duty of its votaries is to protect the religion of peace.
In either case, he's wrong. Wrong to conflate criticism of Islam with islamophobia. Wrong to conflate criticism of Islam with racism. Wrong to conflate criticism of Islam with ultra right nationalism and white supremacy.
I quote below a couple of misleading paras in the online version. The online version, unlike the print edition where I first saw this article, has links to his sources. These references are dodgy, to say the least.
.... Earlier that year, Tony Abbott, then the prime minister, suggested that Muslim leaders were insincere when they said Islam was a religion of peace.
Check out the "insincere" link. Abbott was saying that Muslim leaders ought to call out their extreme jihadist co-religionists and mean it when they do. Not quite the same as suggesting they were insincere, given the obfuscation and dissimulation that have followed past jihadi atrocity attacks. Meantime, the same calling out of white suprematists is demanded in the wake of Christchurch, a call which was largely superfluous given the unanimous condemnation from all quarters, white, black and brindle, and from politics, right, left and centre.
By the way, an Intelligence Squared debate a few years ago concluded in the negative (by audience vote) the proposition that "Islam is a Religion of Peace".
Next para:
Indeed, such was the hostility of numerous parliamentarians' rhetoric toward Islam that the head of Australia's top intelligence organization advised them to moderate their language.
Have a look at the link at "advised" in this para. The advice was because Australia's internal security agency, ASIO, was worried that criticism of Islam might turn its Muslim "allies in the war in terror" all… how to put this? …all jihady-like. You gotta wonder what sort of allies these are that are put off by critiques of radical Islamists, of jihadis, the very people that ASIO its Muslim allies are working together (apparently) to neutralise.
When we were tackling organised crime in Australia in the seventies, did we worry that robust criticisms of the crims would be taken amiss by the Italian community at large who would then become organised crims themselves? Did we have the same worries about criticising terrorist IRA tactics? That god-fearing Irish would then turn all bomb-ey? We did not. And to treat our Muslim Australians as if they would, is the racism of low expectations.
And just what was the alleged "hostility" (Aly's term) of the rhetoric?
At the "advised" link, take this example:
… Queensland Liberal National party backbencher George Christensen, who has made forthright remarks about the "war against radical Islam", said while he had not personally received a call [from ASIO DG] he would be concerned if legitimate debate was being curtailed."Where do we draw the line with that? If we can't say there's a problem within Islam and it needs to be sorted out by the moderate Islamic leadership and that is somehow anathema and will cause national security issues, well goodness me, where do we stop next," Christensen told Guardian Australia.
Is there a single word there that any Australian, moderate Muslim or otherwise, ought to offended by? Well, "no" is the answer. There is not.
BTW: the "call" that Christensen says he'd not received is a call from Duncan Lewis, head of ASIO, warning Australian politicians to use "moderation" in their comments in Islam. "Moderation"!
No way any ASIO DG would ask Australians to "moderate" their talk about Christianity. To argue that that's so because Christianity is the dominant religion is irrelevant. The principle is equality of treatment is paramount.
To repeat for the millionth time "Islam" is an idea. It's an ideology. Like Christianity, or Hinduism, or atheism, or communism, it is, and should be, subject to open debate and robust criticism in a free society.
And those that don't like that, for those that are determined to take offence at anything said, well… tough.
The Christchurch atrocity must not be the excuse to excuse.
An excuse to excuse the horrid elements of an ideology.
As Aly does in his article.
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If this political moment lasts, the country's conservative movement could be transformed.
