Dennis Prager on the Dishonesty of “Islamophobia”

Perhaps the hottest column making the rounds over the past 48 hours is Dennis Prager’s latest, “Why Islamophobia is a Brilliant Term” . His thesis: CAIR and the rest of the Islamist apologists have mainstreamed the term “Islamophobia” not to stigmatize irrational hatred against Muslims, but to stifle any and all criticism of the religion known as Islam.

The equation of Islamophobia with racism is particularly dishonest. Muslims come in every racial group, and Islam has nothing to do with race. Nevertheless, mainstream Western media, Islamist groups calling themselves Muslim civil liberties groups and various Western organizations repeatedly declare that Islamophobia is racism…

Of course, some may argue that whereas conservatism and liberalism are ideas, Islam is a religion, and while one can attack ideas, one must not attack religions. It is, however, quite insulting to religions to deny that they are ideas. Religions are certainly more than ideas — they are theological belief systems — but they are also ideas about how society should be run just as much as liberalism and conservatism are. Therefore, Islam, or Christianity, or Judaism, or Buddhism should be just as subject to criticism as conservatism or liberalism.

A brilliant insight, exposing the cunning use of western liberal guilt and vernacular to push the Islamist agenda. So, next time you are told you are “Islamophobic” for criticizing Islam, here’s your answer: I’m not afraid of individual Muslims; I’m afraid of certain ideas in the religion of Islam, and the actions that those ideas inspire. As Ayaan Hirsi Ali has said so many times: criticizing Islam for its treatment of women, minorities, homosexuals, etc. is not Islamophobic – it’s fair!

Here’s Dennis on CNN last night, discussing his column with Paula Zahn, Christopher Hitchens, and CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper: