"Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf [the promoter of the Islamic center] there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood."So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse." (Facing accusations of racism, Peretz later issued a half-hearted apology which reiterated that his reference to Muslim life being cheap was "a statement of fact, not opinion.")
A New York Times magazine profile of Peretz noted that Peretz's hostility toward Muslims was nothing new. "As early as 1988, Peretz was courting danger in The New Republic with disturbing Arab stereotypes not terribly different from his 2010 remarks," wrote Stephen Rodrick.
A common argument from the Islamophobe network is that Islam is a uniquely violent religion that seeks dominance over all others and therefore must be combated aggressively by Christians and Jews, explaining the American Right's bizarre legislative obsession with banning Islamic Shariah law.
Though many Muslims dispute the depiction of their religion as violent and oppressive, there is another element to this Islamophobe argument that underscores its bigotry -- the history of Christianity, which ranks by far as the most violent religion ever, one that has engaged in genocide against "heathens" and unbelievers on multiple continents, including Muslim lands.
Christians also hold themselves out as believers in the one true faith, and many maintain -- as a fundamental tenet of the religion -- that non-Christians will be condemned to horrible deaths by fire once Judgment Day arrives. Simply read Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, if you're not sure.
Similarly, the Old Testament boasts of genocidal conquests by the great Israelite kings in the so-called Golden Age. No one can read the Old Testament and come away thinking that the Jewish religion is entirely devoid of violent and supremacist thinking, either.
And, Christians -- far more than Muslims -- have persecuted and slaughtered Jews in modern times. The Holocaust was the work of Aryan/Christian supremacists, not that dissimilar in their beliefs from the Nordic/Christian terrorist Breivik.
Historically, Christians also have tortured and murdered many fellow Christians over doctrinal disputes, such as the Reformation. Despite Jesus's teachings in favor of peace and social justice -- and against violence and greed -- the religion that he inspired has managed to adapt quite well to violence and greed.
In America, over the past three decades, there has been an alliance of convenience between right-wing Christians and right-wing Jews, though the two groups may still look at the other with some level of suspicion. Their mutual enemy is the Muslim as well as the multiculturalist, whether Christian, Jewish or non-believer, who wants different religions to live peacefully side by side.
When Breivik went on his murderous rampage in July, he targeted young "multiculturalists" at a camp for aspiring political activists. His goal was to kill anyone who would show tolerance toward Muslims -- and to spark a religious/ethnic war against Muslims and their friends.
Though Emerson and the other "misinformation experts" cannot fully be blamed for the atrocity in Norway, it wasn't a mistake that Breivik cited their work as his inspiration.
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