Islamofascism Revisited

Monday, September 5, 2006

After a lively debate with a close friend, I find it necessary to make a few amendments reagrding my BLOG on Islamofascism. She makes the following points:

1) Classical fascism DOES often draw upon religious backgrounds...e.g...Shinto in Japan and a revial of so called paganism in Germany.

2) Classical fascism is often a reactionary response to a perceived threat.

3) Classical fascism envisions a return to some mythic past wherein the worle was allegedly in perfect balance but underwent corruption and degradation.

4) classical fascism relies upon a scapegoat who can be held responsible and blameworthy for the lapse in values.

5) classical fascism is usually under the authority of a strong and charasmatic figure.

6) She also contends that religious extremism uis not always and necessarily a response to repression, marginalization or exclusion and her reference is modern American fundamental extreme literalist Christianity and some versions of Jihadic Islam. And...I will fither concede, after investigation, that some versions of Muslim Haditha DO lend themselves to violent interpretations of the Koran and of Islam.

That being said...I beleive there to be a fallacy in describing contemporary Islamic, jihadic, extreme forms of Islam as Islamofascism. Even though we DO see the evidence of strong charasmatic leaders, a desire for the mythic return to "better days", and scapegoatism...we do NOT see the kind of centralized state control and authority that was a major ingredient to the fascism of the early 20th century. Fascist regimes also had a strong and centralized standing army under state control and with the exception of Hezbollah and the Irani armies. It would be difficult to describe unrelated extremist terrorists as centralized armies.

We can exempt modern forms of communism...no concept of a return to a mythic past and a disavowal of any primal religious belief...but...we might say that there are certainly totalitarian elements in communism just as there are totalitarian elements in modern jihadic extememism.

Were we to use the formula she proffered, we might be inclined to describe the age of the Crusades or the Inquisition or the era of witch burning as fascisistic...they meet all of the above criteria...yet...we know they were not considered to be so.

I think part of the key to resolving this dilemna is to return to a basic understanding of motives. Why is it that we find the use of the word "Islamofascism" to be so pervasive in today's political discourse? It must be accepted that it is used with the intent to manipulate public opinion, to drive the debate via the perpetuation of fear and that it continually makes the case that we remain safe only so long as the current administration is in charge. This view continues to make the point that if we do not engage in preemptive "war" abroad, we will be faced with war on American soil. These same proponents use language meant to disturb...that this so called "war on terrorism" is THE driving issue of the 21st century.

These ideas all amount to the politics of fear. They rationalize our killing of thousands of innocent citizens to avenge the deaths of 9/11. They conflate terrorist cells with despotic regimes and with consolidated plans to take over America and the world. It must not go unnoticed that these policies, in themselves, resemble fascism as much as Islamic extremism does...strong charasmatic leader...a desire by the fundamentalist right in this country for a return to better days...scapegoatism...

These appeals to jingoism and parochial mindsets are patently NOT appropriate nor are they in any way effective in our search for world peace. They serve to alienate, not to unite. They are the politics of fear, meant to stigmatize and radicalize the American population. Their only purpose is to stir a sense of nationalistic indignation to a fevered pitch and turn Americans into a world wide lynch mob.

I appeal to all citizens to resist this dangerous agenda, to continue the exercise of free speech and dissent, and to not succomb to rhetoric whose only logical outcome is to hasten world antagonism, divisiveness, contention and conflict.

trickster108