Christian 'Murderer' & Muslim 'Terrorist'

Photo Credit: Source Unknown.

There is a stubborn strain in Western thinking toward Muslims defined by French Orientalist Maxime Rodinson as "theolocentrism." Maxime defined this as the practice of attributing all observable phenomena by Muslims to Islamic texts.

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You see this in the U.S. press all the time. Whenever a Muslim engages in any act, U.S. journalists will try to find some explanation in the Qur'an. For such people, Muslims can only be understood through the prism of Islam. Muslims are treated like no other people actuated by the same secular motives. Tony Blair in an act he thought was reflective of his cultural sensibility once stated shortly after 9.11 he carries around the Qur'an in his brief case. Why should he? Is that going to help him understand the motives of Bin Ladin? Of course not. Tony: Put down the Qur'an and read a book on U.S. foreign policy and how it funded Bin Ladin in Afghanistan and then placed troops on Holy Saudi ground that led Bin Ladin to lead a jihad against America.

The United States is an incredibly religious country where 45% of American describe themselves as "Born-Again." The United States also boosts one of the highest rates of domestic abuse with 3 American women murdered a day by either a husband or boyfriend. Does anyone study the Bible, which calls women property, as the cause of such misogynist violence? No, they don't. Instead they justifiable depend on analysis rooted in socio-economic factors. But any Muslim who commits a similar crime and the ignorant American press writes superficial articles about Islam, women and how this Muslim was motivated by his faith to kill his wife.

There is one standard for one people and another, more nefarious, standard for another. This is the case with the term "Islamic terrorism." People use this term as if there is a peculiar form of terrorism committed by Muslims, as if the terrorism of, say, Hamas is any different than that of of the IRA or ETA. All terrorism is the same and as long as we do not refer to IRA terrorism as "Catholic terrorism" then there is no need except those born out of malice to apply the label Islam to any terrorism committed by Muslims. Supporters of the term "Islamic terrorism" defend their use on the grounds that Muslim terrorists like Bin Ladin themselves appropriate Islam as their justification. And Israel defines itself as a Jewish state, Rabbis in Israel routinely justify violence against not only Palestinians but even peace-supporting Israeli leader, Yatzhik Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir, was a Jewish rabbinical student, and Jewish settlers who attack and kill Palestinians do so out of religious conviction; Christian abortion clinic bombers and abortion doctors also act in the name of Christianity. But these same people who routinely use the term "Islamic terrorism" never use the term "Christian terrorism" or "Jewish terrorism" to describe identical acts committed by Christians and Jews. In fact, if you dares to call Israeli attacks against Palestinians "Jewish terrorism" these same people would call you an anti-Semite.

But besides the nonsensical term of "Islamic terrorism," any violent acts by Muslims are increasingly labeled terrorism even when terrorism in not the proper definition. This double-standard is illustrated in recent events:

For two recent crimes, a Muslim, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, is charged with terrorism and murder. In a similar case, a Christian, Scott Roeder, is charged with murder but not terrorism. Yet, there are ample indications that both sought to influence government policy.

Two men, one Christian and the other Muslim, commit murder just one day apart in the United States. Both appear to have been motivated by their religious beliefs. The Christian murderer is Scott Roeder and his victim is Dr. George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, KS who performed late term abortions. The Muslim murderer is Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad and his victims are Pvt. William Long and Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula who were new U.S. Army recruiters.

These two murder cases expose the media’s and our legal system’s bias against Muslims. Both crimes seem to fit the definition of terrorism motivated by religious extremism. The media and the legal system, however, are treating these alleged murderers and their crimes very differently.

The Muslim murder suspect, Mr. Muhammad, is charged with terrorism along with first degree murder. Mr. Muhammad’s faith has been front and center from the very earliest news reports. The American-Muslim community’s almost immediate repudiation of Mr. Muhammad’s murder was and still is largely ignored.

On the other hand, the Christian murder suspect, Mr. Roeder, is not being charged with terrorism. His faith has not been the focus of news reports even though there seems to be ample evidence to suggest that Mr. Roeder espouses extreme, right-wing Christian beliefs. And lastly, the media is giving anti-abortion groups ample opportunity to distance themselves from the murderous actions of one of their own.

Theolocentrism is no longer a flawed paradigm of analysis, but is now an ideology of hostility toward Arabs and Muslims and we see it right before are very eyes.