I haven’t seen All-American Muslim, but it appears to be no different than any reality TV show — absent the celebrities or big prizes. And yet, thanks to the efforts of a Florida conservative group, it has become the subject of controversy — with Lowe’s, one of the largest home-improvement companies in the nation, pulling its advertising and buying into the nonsense about balance, terrorism and Sharia law.
The column I wrote, which ran today on New Brunswick and Lawrenceville Patches and should run on others this week, outlines the response from the local Muslim community and puts in plain English the damage that this kind of stereotyping can do.
The first response came in over the transom today and, unfortunately, proves the point of the column. Very sad indeed.
Your extremely one side opinion on the Lowes/Muslim issue, I believe, sets up a straw man argument. “..the Florida Family Association, a small activist organization, called for a boycott because the show distorts “the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values” Terrorism is a threat to lives. Not to liberties and values. The threat FFA was talking about was the threat of Sharia based laws, limits on free speech caused by ‘sensitivity’ concerns, and the attack against Christianity that fundamentally defines Islam – If you read the Quran, nearly every page has some reference to Christians and Jews; how their beliefs are misguided, including allegations of changing the scriptures, Jesus not having been crucified, and denial of his divine nature. That is the threat that FFA was talking about. That is the core feature of Islam that the TLC show tried to hide. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Of course, there is no straw man here — my criticism is of a very real argument being made and Lowe’s response. And at no point do I dismiss terrorism — only the assumption that it must be mentioned every time we discuss Islam or Muslims.
If there is a logical fallacy here, it is on the part of our letter writer, who falls into the one-to-all trap (the existence of one or several Muslim terrorists means all Muslims are terrorists).
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