Can Trump Push Islam towards Reform?
By Jonathan F. Keiler
The mainstream media and the Obama administration, like the media and governments in many Western countries, goes out of its way to excuse Islamist terror, and actively paints a picture of Muslims in the West victimized by supposed Islamophobia. This tendency is bolstered by the corresponding refusal to acknowledge Islamist terror for what it is, substituting euphemisms or generalities to cover what are clearly murderous acts done in the name of Islam. Most ludicrous of all, is the penchant — particularly by Barack Obama — to discourse theologically about the “religion of peace.” In fact, this refusal to accept reality not only excuses Islamist terror, but encourages it, and makes any reform within Islam next to impossible.
Take the recent example of the Muslim Ohio State attacker, Abdul Razak Artan. Artan blamed media for negative reports about Islam “…that put that picture in their heads…” which led to his insecurity at the university, a place where he was “…kind of scared….” Thus he rather neatly portrayed himself as a victim before attempting to murder a dozen people by running them over and knifing them. Artan’s victimized ideation was probably a fantasy since it is highly unlikely that at Ohio State he received anything but deference to his religious orientation, and explicit negative descriptions of Muslims in the American media are quite rare. More likely the mainstream media’s and the Obama administration’s false hysteria about supposed Islamophobia is what gave Artan the idea to paint himself as a victim.
