Ernest’s Overarching Argument: In the Western eyes, colonialism serves as a justification to racial and prejudiced Islamic stereotypes hindering the concepts of culture, religion, and language.
Claims/Distinct Assertions:
- “If one looks at the more than fifty nations that have a majority Muslim population today, one is forced to confront a bewildering diversity of languages, ethnic groups, and differing ideological and sectarian positions (though the flow of information can still be largely in one direction).” (pg. 4)
- “In approaching Islamic texts and religious concepts, one must stand aside from the attitude of missionary competition that underlies the modern concept of religion. That is, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of using isolated quotations of scripture or law as “proof texts” to determine the acceptability or unacceptability of an entire religion.” (pg. 32)
- “It is very easy to assume that our contemporary society is the norm, and then if we encounter something markedly different, there is a tendency to reject it with a smug sense of superiority.” (pg. 34)
Evidence to Support Claim 3:
Ernest claims that if we as people accept our everyday life as the socially expected behavior or “norm”, it becomes unordinary to view another perspective as it becomes rejected with a sense of superiority. For example, if an American portrayed one’s hand being cut off for theft, it would be viewed as harsh and barbaric, but in Islamic culture it would be socially acceptable and a correct form to punish someone for a harsh act. Although it is okay for everyone to have different cultural beliefs and traditions, it is not okay to completely disregard an entire religion due to these cultural practices. It is necessary for Non-Muslims and Muslims to understand each other’s cultures. Based on the general concept of cultural relativism, I think that all cultures are inherently equal, meaning no religion, culture, or language should have a superiority complex over one another. On page thirty five, Ernest claims that “no religious concept, symbol, or practice is self-evident..”. When material is controversial, it is important to critically analyze and understand both sides of a conflict because they should not be delineated as obvious matters. If Islam is being portrayed in a negative view, it is essential to understand why these claims are being made and where it derived from. Due to harsh and brutal acts, military conquest allowed colonialism to be so successful. Due to the fact that Eurpope had a greater advantage of technological and maritime advancements, it was easier to modernize the West. Due to these advantages, Europeans felt like they held a higher status, thus leading to supremacy over other cultures, religions, and languages. In the Western eyes, it is easy to hold a negative image and stereotype of the religion Islam because it was never truly studied completely without bias over another belief, such as Christianity. This is why Americans, even to this day, view the words “Arab”, “Muslim”, and “terrorist” as “interchangeable terms.” (pg. 26) Essentially what Ernest is saying is that one cannot claim a religion to be “historically false” without truly understanding the fundamental concepts and practices of that particular religion.
