Don’t blame ‘24′: Properly directed criticism needed
Muslims Upset Over ‘24′ Portrayal. Ok, fine. But, what is being done to change people’s mindset?
For years, more than once, extremists or fundamentalists have declared “death to America” and have conducted attacks, riots and used verbal arguments against “infidels”. Yet, there are two sectors of Muslims (perhaps) — one putting forth the message of peace of “true Islam”, the other responsible for many deaths and much destruction. The former group gets upset that they may targets of a backlash because of the latter group.
However, there is a real fear among people in the world of the Islamic extremists. When that fear is exhibited, the members of “true Islam” criticize such a portrayal, like that in ‘24′. But, are Muslims of the “true Islam” not seeking to eradicate such fundamentalism from their ranks, or is it just that its not being reported?
Certainly, as a Catholic who accepts the fullness of Catholic teaching, I know of the difficulties of weeding out the “extremists”, the “liberals”, the “ultra-trads”, the “fundamentalists”, etc. Catholicism has a wide range of them who count themselves in the ranks. Yet, it is not difficult to find criticism of those Catholics who choose their own positions over that of the Pope and the Magisterium.
The same cannot necessarily be said of the Muslim community. In fact, in my search, I could find only an article or two in the first few pages of a Google-News search for “Muslims criticize/criticise”, although I did find AltMuslim which includes a range of writing, even some critical of these Islamic extremists, along with plenty of criticism of non-Muslims for comments, portrayals, etc.
I watched ‘24′ last week (all 4 hours), and I was left with that thought … if a portrayal is inaccurate, do something to change the impression or opinion that drove the portrayal. Those of “true Islam” need to condemn those who are responsible for creating this fear of Muslims, and the mistaken impression of Islam.
One of my purposes in starting this blog was to help correct mistaken notions of Catholic doctrine and teaching both on theology and related to events that happen daily in the world. Sometimes it is the depiction or interpretation that someone reads into a document or teaching that needs to be corrected. Other times, it is the statement of a Catholic that needs to be corrected. When the assessment is accurate, however, I do not criticize the person for making the point; rather I criticize the original action or statement that gave such a problematic portrayal.
This is what I believe needs to be done in the Muslim community. The fears that people have that a member of Islam might do something to harm them is real. It is based on the actions of extremists who have created such fears. Rather than condemn people for their reality-based fears, condemn those who created such fear — namely the extremists.
Only when the world begins to see such action will their fears begin to be allayed.
[tags]muslim, 24, television, islam, catholic, fundamentalist, extremism[/tags]
Indeed 24’s recent episode is thought provoking, but is it not promoting streotypes and fear of the muslims in general. Many people in the U.S. do not seem to distinguish between the vast majority of 1.6 billion muslims and a handful of extremist muslims.
Ajaz said this on January 20th, 2007 at 5:59 am
Ajaz, welcome to CatholicSphere and thanks for your comments.
I would say that ‘24′ is perpetuating or echoing such a stereotype and fear. While the sense of impending danger is different, Catholics are constantly stereotyped in the U.S, too.
I will say that ‘24′ did attempt to have a portrayal of a former Muslim extremist who was now looking to diplomacy. Maybe just a token though, to be able to make just such a point in the face of criticism.
As for the fact that many don’t distinguish between the “vast majority” and a “handful of extremists”, I would tend to agree. The reason for it kinda comes back to the point of my blog entry … the “extremists” and those who react violently receive near exclusive coverage (and I know how the mainstream media [MSM] can be, though, in biased reporting — choosing what is controversial instead of fair and balanced). It appears that they make up the “vast majority” of Muslims.
If more of the non-extremists were to speak out against the extremists, wouldn’t there be progress in changing people’s mindset by showing who really made up the “vast majority”?
Matt said this on January 20th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
[...] It always feels good when you write about something, and a similar commentary shows up in a major media outlet. It’d be even better if you were the writer whose commentary was given major play. So, what am I referring to? Yesterday, Catholic Exchange (which I consider to be a major media outlet, distinct from the MSM) posted this commentary by M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., the chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, related to this season of the Fox television drama, 24. Back on January 19th, I posted an entryDon’t blame ‘24’: Properly directed criticism needed. In that post, which was in response to the news that Muslims were upset over portrayal in ‘24’, I said much of the same as Dr. Jasser said in the Catholic Exchange article. Here are some of the similarities between the two articles: Dr. Jasser: The show addresses a real concern. Me: However, there is a real fear [of Islamic extremists] among people in the world … Dr. Jasser: To the extent Muslims have a bad image on TV, what can we do to change that? Me: if a portrayal is inaccurate, do something to change the impression or opinion that drove the portrayal. Those of “true Islam” need to condemn those who are responsible for creating this fear of Muslims, and the mistaken impression of Islam. Dr. Jasser: Other than press-release condemnations, there has been virtually no palpable public effort from the greater Muslim community in this regard. Me: In fact, in my search, I could find only an article or two in the first few pages of a Google-News search for “Muslims criticize/criticise… [...]
CatholicSphere » Muslim speaks up; validates CatholicSphere said this on February 7th, 2007 at 9:34 pm