“New” Atheism and Islam

[todaysdate]

By Blaine Stum

Among the so-called “New” Atheists, few topics have seen so much ink spilled, and so many words spoken, as the supposed threat of Islam. Since 9/11, the religion has become a favorite whipping post for atheist authors, speakers and thinkers to argue the harm that comes with religious belief. Every act of barbarity and cruelty carried out by terrorist organizations claiming the banner of Islam is used as a mark against the religion. So it is no surprise that during a recent episode of Real Time, Bill Maher and Sam Harris got in a heated exchange with Ben Affleck on that very subject. What underlies much of the thought of folks like Harris and Maher is the idea that, while all religion is bad, Islam is uniquely bad. But this is a view devoid of nuance, lacking in context and one that too often leads to the well spring of prejudice.

Let’s first dispense with the straw man in the room right away: I do not believe that facets of Islam, or the religion’ practitioners, should be exempt from criticism. Groups like ISIS and the brand of Islam they represent deserve our criticism and condemnation; as do countries who impose barbaric and antiquated laws on their citizens. The broad generalizations that Maher and Harris espouse do little to help however. Most of those on the front lines criticizing groups like ISIS and archaic laws are, contra Maher and Harris, Muslims themselves, and they have far more credibility and experience than either Maher or Harris could hope to have. The largest Islamic organization in the world, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, recently released a statement condemning ISIS. No doubt this statement would not appease the likes of Maher and Harris, as it condemns ISIS for perverting Islam rather than condemning Islam as the problem in and of itself. There have also been reformist voices such as Hayerttin Karaman, Ayatollah Muhammad Moussavi Bojnourdi, Hujat al-Islam Mushen Kadivar, Abu al-‘Ela Madi, Ahmad Abdullah, Abd al-Aziz al-Kassim, Abdullah al-Hamid, Abdelmadjid Charfi, Salah Eddin al-Jourshi, Mohamed Charfi and a litany of others who have been fighting against extremism, intolerance and injustice in their countries for decades. Yet, if one listens to the “New” Atheists, these voices do not exist. This smacks do deliberate erasure, and should be challenged.

Beyond erasing indigenous voices of reform and dissent, views like the ones espoused by Maher and Harris also seem to ignore a whole host of other factors that often end up shuffling toward injustice, violence and terrorism: imperialism, hopelessness, humiliation, nationalism and struggles for land, resources and power. That these factors may contribute to terrorism and extremism, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Marxist, does not justify said terrorism of extremism. It does however complicate the picture that people like Maher and Harris seek to paint. I doubt they have no knowledge of any of this. It has been widely noted, for instance, that the group who has used suicide bombing more than any others is the Marxist group the Tamil Tigers. Endless scholars have discussed the non-religious grievances and desires of Israelis and Palestinians that feature prominently in the ongoing conflict. And there has been no shortage of work on how our own actions, whether it’s material support to authoritarian regimes or imperial hubris, have aided the very terrorism and extremism we say we are fighting against.

What is perhaps most disturbing however is that while Maher and Harris often tout themselves as liberal, their anti-Islam animus drives them in to the arms of prejudicial and authoritarian impulses. Maher has worried aloud about Islam “taking over Europe in 300 years,” a statement that would earn nods of approval from anti-Muslim stalwarts like Bat Ye’or or Robert Spencer. He’s suggested that what Israel has done to Gaza is restrained and to be praised, and has argued that Western men are better than Arab men due to our treatment of women. That sort of self rightousness rarely leads to a good place. For his part, Harris has written screeds justifying the use of torture and defending wholesale profiling of all Muslims at airports. How any of these statements or ideas are supposed to be helpful or particularly informative is beyond me. If anything, they seem to feed in to the exact narrative that groups like ISIS are pushing to gin up support.