Islam and political correctness

Marcia Segelstein - OneNewsNow Columnist - 11/2/2010

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1222190

Speaking ill of Islam is now "numero uno" on the ever-growing list of what's considered politically incorrect in America. For reasons I can't quite fathom, it's become a cause célèbre among liberals, who seem bent on defending the religion of Mohammad against any and all detractors.

Perhaps what they don't understand is that it's possible for most of us to denounce Muslim extremism and certain Islamic practices without condemning or thinking badly of all Muslims.

Here's a case in point. According to a recent article in Britain's Daily Mail, a judge in the United Arab Emirates has ruled that under Sharia law husbands are allowed to beat their wives and children with one caveat: there mustn't be any physical traces of the beatings.

Here are the facts of the case. An unnamed Emirati man was found guilty of "slapping his wife so hard he damaged her bottom lip and teeth," and kicking his 23-year-old daughter, causing bruises on her hand and knee. He was found guilty of assault and given a small fine to pay. For the record, he initially claimed it was all an accident.

The man decided to appeal, "claiming that even if he had intended to strike his wife and daughter, under Shariah law he had the right to do so...."

The appeal was heard by a senior UAE judge, Chief Justice Falah al Hajeri. Previous Shariah court judgments have given husbands what's called the "right to discipline," which may include beating. The judge used this case to offer further clarification on that point. "Although the law permits the husband to use his right to discipline, he has to abide by the limits of this right. If the husband abuses this right to discipline, he cannot be exempted from punishment," he said. And what would constitute "abusing" that right? According to al Hajeri, one way to determine whether a man had gone too far, as it were, would be to look for physical evidence of beating. If he leaves marks, he's overdone it. Otherwise he is within his rights.

I wonder how Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar would have reacted if Bill O'Reilly had told the facts of that case during his latest visit to The View. Would they have considered it insulting to the religion of Islam and stormed off the set? As it was, all O'Reilly did on his appearance October 14 was refer to the fact that it was Muslims who attacked us on 9/11. When the co-hosts calmed down and returned to their seats, they appeared to be appeased when O'Reilly called the attackers "Muslim extremists" instead of just Muslims. Is Judge Falah al Hajeri a Muslim, simply upholding and clarifying Shariah law -- or is he an extremist? Is the husband in the case an extremist -- or a law-abiding wife beater? Is it insulting and politically incorrect of me to report this story?

And then there is the revealing case of former NPR analyst Juan Williams. Here's the exact text of the remarks he made on The O'Reilly Factor which got him in trouble:

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

And this with regard to the Times Square bomber:

"He said the war with Muslims, America's war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts."
For that, NPR fired him. What was his real mistake? Expressing nervousness at being on airplanes with passengers identifying themselves as Muslims? Quoting a Muslim extremist about being at war with America?

As Williams himself said, political correctness shouldn't stop us from speaking the truth, from stating the facts -- which is exactly what German Chancellor Andrea Merkel did when she recently declared that Germany's efforts to create a multicultural society there have "utterly failed." Merkel was speaking largely about the four-million Muslims who live in Germany, but have primarily not integrated into the culture or learned the language.

A plain-speaking, common sense approach to the world's concerns about Islam should not be off limits. There are real issues to be addressed and fears to be confronted. Allowing political correctness to shut down the conversation won't get anybody anywhere.