In today’s society, ISIS and the Muslim population as a whole are commonly grouped together. We must take steps to sympathize with those who are wrongfully accused of being associated with ISIS and differentiate between the two. What is commonly thought to be a pipeline to this issue starts with two words: prejudice and Islamophobia. Prejudice is a common view or opinion of a group of people of which is not based upon fact or reason. Islamophobia, which is directly associated with prejudice, is feelings of dislike of, fear of, or prejudice towards Muslim or Islamic people, especially from a political or power standpoint. Two examples of Islamophobia actually come from two of the most well known United …show more content…
In theory, if we don’t blame Christianity for the Klu Klux Klan, why do we blame Islam for ISIS? Muslims around the world are desperately trying to show that they do not condone the violence of ISIS, with other religions also trying to establish sympathy for Islam. Rabbi Marc Schneier, a Jewish pastor who sympathizes with the non-ISIS affiliated Muslims says, “Islamic extremism is a genuine threat to world peace, but those who lump all Muslims together and dismiss as meaningless the courageous stand of the moderate majority against extremism, aren’t helping to win that battle” (qtd. in Malcolm). Despite claims that hate crimes against Muslims have increased, many such as Senator Rubio don’t believe these claims. The reality is, people refuse to accept what they cannot understand, so they act out against these everyday Muslims who’ve done nothing wrong. Worshipers at a mosque in Pflugerville, Texas, near Austin, found its front door smeared with feces and torn-up pages of the Quran littering the ground (Payne), if we are to begin understand the religion of Islam, the defilements of the holy book of Islam, the Quran must cease. Some a very necessary step towards identifying the difference between Islam and ISIS would be to acknowledge the fact that in the eyes of many, ISIS is a common enemy. Islam as a whole does not support or endorse ISIS’s actions in any …show more content…
Increased acts of violence have been documented in California, especially following a terrorist attack in San Bernadino that left 14 dead and 22 seriously injured (Grossman). This is just one of the many states where persecution of innocent people has risen as a small sect of their religion claims to represent them all. The matter of Muslim defense is not only an issue of being heard but also of finding the strength to speak out in the first place. ISIS has struck fear into the hearts of those who oppose them, and that isn’t only referring to those attacked in the United States and Europe. ISIS has came down with an iron fist on an Middle Eastern Muslims who attempt to oppose or speak out against their cause.
The point of this discussion is, if we really want a drastic increase in anti-ISIS activism by Muslims, which we need, we as a society need to comfort them and assure them that we won’t let ISIS punish them for speaking out. If we as a world are struggling so much to stop ISIS, how can we expect a terrified group of Islamic States to stand alone while we accuse them of being the thing they fear the most, a terrorist group how tolerates no opposition, and shows no