What is wrong with the world?

What is wrong with the Muslim World? Mr. Carp, I’m not much of a theologian or a historian either; but if my seven years at Episcopal school have taught me anything, it’s that violence and religion have shared a long history together. You wrote, “we cannot suggest that it is ALL Muslims who are hateful and violent” but throughout your Wespeak you make generalizations that suggest this is indeed the case. You want to know why “so many” Muslims are violent but I think a more important question is why religious fundamentalism, in general, leads to violence. Lest I pull a Rob Cohen (let’s all thank Victor Vazquez for making that a phrase), I would like to say that I did not attend the lecture that you wrote your Wespeak in response to, but I don’t think that’s a requirement for being offended by your response. Without turning this Wespeak into a history lesson, I would like to tell you why I was offended.

I may not be Muslim but I seriously doubt that Muslims consider their religious teachings and beliefs to be “mythology.” If someone suggested to me that the religious beliefs I had been taught were myths, I would be outraged; you need not accept another religion as your own in order to talk about it in a respectful manner. Additionally, by referring to Scandinavians as a “quiet, blond-haired, mild-mannered” collective you bring race and nationality into question when really what you claimed to be interested in was violent Islamic Fundamentalism. Why did you do that? Certainly, you were not trying to create the age-old dichotomy of violent, ill-mannered, people of color against “quiet, blond-haired [White], mild-mannered [civilized], Scandinavians [Europeans]”—because that would really just be racist, and this is a issue of religion, isn’t it? According to you “many, many, MANY” Muslims are “primitive savages” and “animals” that commit heinous acts of violence; what exactly qualifies as “many, many, MANY” Muslims, Mr. Carp? I hope you did not mean to suggest that it is the majority of Muslims in the “Islamic World.” Oh, by the way, I was wondering if you intentionally chose wording that was used to justify the crusades and slavery or if that was merely coincidental?

Mr. Carp, evidently, you have no qualms about making sweeping generalizations with little evidentiary support behind your claims. When you refer to Islam as a “culture that calls for women to wear oppressive cloaks at all times, and stones them to death for committing adultery”, you make me think: everything Evan Carp knows about Islam he learned from watching Fox News. While culture is a word that can be defined loosely, I think you are underestimating the diversity of beliefs, histories, interests, religious practices, and even races in the Middle East. Please forgive me, Mr. Carp, if you actually realized that Muslims now reside globally and that some of them *gasp* have blonde hair and blue eyes, etc. In the off handed chance that you think of the “Islamic World” as including everyone who is Muslim, then you’ve just made my argument about diversity stronger.

Mr. Carp, you claim that there are times when it is okay to be insensitive but after reading your Wespeak, I realize this is definitely not one of those times. If you use your words to alienate people your questions will never be answered. Hateful and insensitive behavior is rooted in ignorance; it is time to educate ourselves so that we can actually answer questions like: What’s wrong with the World?