Reply to The subtle micro aggressions of islamophobia

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Getting back to the topic of this thread, here are six categories of religious micro aggression per
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jmmh/10381607.0006.203?rgn=main;view=fulltext

1. Endorsing Religious Stereotypes: statements or behaviors that communicate false, presumptuous, or incorrect perceptions of certain religious groups (e.g., stereotyping that a Muslim person is a terrorist or that a Jewish person is cheap).
2. Exoticization: instances where people view other religions as trendy or foreign (e.g., an individual who dresses in a certain religion’s garb or garments for fashion or pleasure).
3. Pathology of Different Religious Groups: Statements and behaviors in which individuals equate certain religious practices or traditions as being abnormal, sinful, or deviant (e.g., telling someone that they are in the “wrong” religion).
4. Assumption of One's Own Religious Identity as the Norm: Comments or behaviors that convey people’s presumption that their religion is the standard and behaves accordingly (e.g., greeting someone “Merry Christmas” or saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes conveys one’s perception that everyone is Christian or believes in God).
5. Assumption of Religious Homogeneity: Statements in which individuals assume that every believer of a religion practices the same customs or has the same beliefs as the entire group (e.g., assuming that all Muslim people wear head coverings).
6. Denial of Religious Prejudice: Incidents in which individuals claim that they are not religiously biased, even if their words or behaviors may indicate otherwise.[/quote]

I think pretty much every human being is guilty of all of these things, in religious and many other cultural and social contexts.

For example, take item #4. Certainly when you and the other Muslim poster write "women are equal in Islam," the debate has been around whether everybody should understand that this means to Muslims that women are equally valued even if they don't have equal legal rights.  I don't ever think you spelled out women's legal rights, instead you left it to a handful of other posters to clarify these for the 98% of readers who didn't know. Only after that did you clarify your idea of equal value. I think this was particularly unfortunate because you live in a western country, you know that 98% of your readers aren't familiar with the Muslim interpretation of "women's equality," yet you both continued to say this anyway.[/quote]

To clarify why and how Muslim women feel equality (in value of rights, or equity) exists is a lengthy explanation. To simply say, for example, that inheritance laws gives women less is only half the picture. Inheritance laws gives more to males because they predominantly bear financial burdens in their lives. Then we have to explain what kind of financial responsibilities the man has in Islam and also explain how it is that women does not bear any financial responsibilities. All this detailed explanation must be provided, all the while fending off unfair insults from
Islamophobes along the way who will say our system treats women like children. No, actually it considers the fact that women bear children and often have the responsibility of raising children. That itself is a great undertaking so Islam does not impose on her the additional burden of financial responsibility.   Muslims are not embarrassed or ashamed to explain all this and more. We think Islam is a just system, so we do not feel it necessary to mislead. But it is time consuming and presumptuous to assume this audience is interested in great details about our faith. Muslima and I only wrote to correct inaccurate information that was posted. If there was any further inquiry, however, we would have and did clarify.[/quote]

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