Morphine Prince 109,655 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 The prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, has emerged over the past tumultuous week as one of the West’s most vocal foes of Islamism, though he’s actually been talking about the threat it poses for a long while. During the course of an interview conducted before the Charlie Hebdo attacks, he told meâ€â€he went out of his way to tell me, in factâ€â€that he refuses to use the term 'Islamophobia' to describe the phenomenon of anti-Muslim prejudice, because, he says, the accusation of Islamophobia is often used as a weapon by Islamism's apologists to silence their critics. Most of my conversation with Valls was focused on the fragile state of French Jewryâ€â€here is my post on his comments, which included the now-widely circulated statement that, “if 100,000 Jews leave, France will no longer be Franceâ€â€â€and I didn’t realize the importance of his comment about Islamophobia until I re-read the transcript of our interview. “It is very important to make clear to people that Islam has nothing to do with ISIS,†Valls told me. “There is a prejudice in society about this, but on the other hand, I refuse to use this term 'Islamophobia,' because those who use this word are trying to invalidate any criticism at all of Islamist ideology. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is used to silence people. â€Source: http://m.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/french-prime-minister-manuel-valls-on-islamophobia/384592/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didymus 34,380 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Very interesting. It's true that the use of words is very tricky these days. I agree that it's better to think beyond the objective value of words and take their use/reception into account. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melech 9,900 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Agreed. Inb4 social warriors don't agree Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonna Lee 384 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 just like we shouldn't use "homophobia" to describe criticism of the "gay lifestyle" or "xenophobia" to describe criticism and hate of immigrants! i like it when u treat me mean it turns my mood from black to blue Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alposnacks 1 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Yes thank YOU: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cocaine Heart 4,768 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 "the accusation of Islamophobia is often used as a weapon by Islamism's apologists to silence their critics." We going to boo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memo 176 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 This is tricky because on one side he's making a good point, people may misuse the word to justify some of the terrorist acts but on the other side Islamophobia does exists and he's invalidating it by not accepting that we do discriminate towards muslims based only on the acts of terrorism in the name of it that the media constantly shows us Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sexxx 5,737 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 is "islamism" even a thing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garnite 8 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 There is a prejudice in society about this, but on the other hand, I refuse to use this term 'Islamophobia,' because those who use this word are trying to invalidate any criticism at all of Islamist ideology. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is used to silence people. â€very true “It is very important to make clear to people that Islam has nothing to do with ISIS,â€very false Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
teo 609 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 He does have a point, but saying “It is very important to make clear to people that Islam has nothing to do with ISIS,†is like saying that crusades have nothing to do with Christianity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 680 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I agree. The problem is extreme and irrational "islamophobia" which lumps all Muslims with terrorists. But there is a version of Islam that is is RATIONAL to fear, just like "Fascistphobia" made sense in the 1930's (and would it would be crazy to dismiss it as "oh your just being racist against Germans and Italians, you warmonger, and promoting hate against innocent immigrants from those countries." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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