Daniel Pipes just a blog post entitled “Strange Sex Stories from the Muslim World.”
He prefaces his remarks with the following: “The deepest differences between Muslims and Westerners concern not politics but sexuality. Each side has a long history of looking at the other’s sexual mores with a mixture of astonishment and disgust.”
Pipes goes on to tell us about a weird case of child marriage in Yemen, an over-excited preacher in Saudi Arabia, and an odd tribal veiling custom in some backwater of Saudi Arabia. Of course, these stories are not representative of the “Muslim world.” And even less surprising, there is no mention of the sexual weirdness that goes on in the Christian world (Catholic Priests in the USA, Austrians in basements, or Mormons in Texas, anyone?). So, if Pipes’s article contains no worthwhile analysis, what is its point?
Obviously, the point is to whip up indignation against Muslims and their “backward religion.” Pipes has a PhD in Medieval Islam Studies from Harvard, so he can understand that a titillating collection of anecdotes has little explanatory power. But there are a lot of people out there who see these isolated anecdotes as proof of Islam’s inferiority. Here’s a sampling of the comments section:
“Well, I can tell you,,they have a fight. we will never bow to that..and we are just about to let them know it..force is all they understand.. Yet millions of Muslims are converting to the true G-d and leaving Islam.”
“Dont expect any peace or stability from their end. Terror and hatred is in their blood and genes… I can see a war in near future, a war which will destroy this planet and half the human race.”
“You need to get out and read more. Christianity was the religion that truly was “hijacked” by evil people — not islam. Islam always was, and still is, evil — by the decree of allah. Seriously, do a little reading.”
Statements like “hatred is in their genes,” “their religion is evil,” and “we can only hope they convert to the true religion” reminds me of Osama bin Laden’s talking points. Demonizing entire groups of people is a very dangerous thing. I wish the people who said these things would spend some time in a Muslim country. They would be shocked by the warmth and hospitality of people who have “hate in their DNA.”
Even if Turkey balances it’s budget, ups its per capita GDP, and solves the Cyprus issue, prejudices such as these may derail the country’s bid to join the EU.
