When is Supremacism Acceptable?
Idea of Supremacy did not take birth with KKK or Hitler. Nor was it reborn in Charlottesville. It has been as old as the Old Testament. It is ingrained in Quran and the larger Christian scriptures. It wasn’t the “love of God” that took the White man to Africa, Australia, Asia and the Americas or the Arabs to Africa and Asia to kill, pillage and rape people while they were enslaved – but the motivation – mark this clearly, Motivation – came from the very scriptures that were forced upon the minds and communities that were enslaved.
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Here is the Old Testament’s call for the Abrahamic Supremacist ideology, which for many centuries formed the basis of why millions were enslaved and killed:
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 13:6-10 – Source)
In Africa, which the Arabs had tried to convert the tribes they had defeated, the King of Bornu (who fancied himself to be from Mohammad’s tribe) [Source: Le genocide Voile, TIdiane N’diaye pg 107-108] was puzzled by the attacks of Arabs on his subjects, some of whom were yet to convert to Islam. He wrote to the Sultan of Egypt – “Arab tribes have devastated our whole country, the Bornu country…. they made prisoners out of free people among us, those of our strain among Muslims…. they took our people as commodities” (Source)
Ironically, Bornu is the home of Boko Haram today. Talk about Supremacist ideology being mainstreamed by the very victims themselves!
Let us be clear and honest – Quran has 109 verses that motivate – mark it clearly, motivate – to kill or fight non-believers (infidels). Muslims are called to kill, behead, rape, and massacre non-Muslims and chides the Muslims who do NOT join in the fight by calling them hypocrites!
The only – and let us again be honest and clear – the ONLY reason why this is not accepted by all and everyone still dances around this calling Islam a “religion of peace” is because everyone has given in to the Spin and not the facts! See a few verses below:
Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them” No reasonable person would interpret this to mean a spiritual struggle. The targets of violence are “those who disbelieve” – further defined in the next verse (13) as “defy and disobey Allah.”
Quran (17:16) – “And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.”
Charlottesville: “there were no good people” vs the Good believers
Trump created moral equivalence between the White Supremacists and the protestors saying there were “Good people” on both the sides. This statement of his has been – correctly, I would say – been strongly criticized for even suggesting that there were “good people” on the side of the White Supremacists. Those who were chanting – Jews will not replace us – and anti-black slogans were hideously malafide. Even those who were not prone to violence amongst the White Supremacists? Yes, the answer has been.
Why? Because their motivation and intention were evil. Those in the Alt-Right and Trump – who may NOT be IN that march but are justifying the White Supremacists are being apologists for a vile ideology.
But how is the call for hatred towards Jews and other non-believers by the Quran – which many Muslims, even the ones like Fareed Zakaria, the smart and wise CNN anchor defend as the “faith of a billion” any different? How the call of the faith of many Christians who take both the Testaments as the “word” any different from White Supremacism?
In Boston, where the White Supremacists had called for the “Free Speech rally”, their rally was dwarfed by the anti-racism protestors. And, the Supremacists retreated.
Let us ask the obvious question now – Are Supremacism and Valid Faith a factor of numbers?!! If Islam’s Supremacist ideology was not backed by billions, millions of whom (per many Pew polls) swear by ideological supremacy unabashedly – wouldn’t it have (should have) the same push back from the “anti-racist” protestors for being vile?
Not everyone living in Germany during HItler’s time would do what Nazis did to Jews. They wouldn’t even suggest that it was a good thing. But they never protested. They probably even became their apologists. Just as Trump and the many who are trying to argue for Robert Lee and the issues with blacks (as a counter to White Supremacists’ behavior) have been doing. Unacceptably so.
But then why do we accept some Supremacism ideologies and not others? Because, if you really do see HONESTLY – either Supremacy dies completely or not at all. This is NOT a fight in percentages. If even 10% of Supremacist ideologies in the world are tolerated and accepted as valid, all stay. Sometimes as competitors to the throne of supremacism and sometimes as counters in defense.
Supremacism is a sickness. All Supremacism.
The idea that one man or one idea is superior to any other because of historicity or appearance is a vile idea. The Islamic idea of Allah and its prophet is as much Supremacist as the Christian idea of Jesus as the only Savior is. As the whole notion of Believers and Non-believers is. A God or a Faith that divides between adherents to it as superior in any way or at any time (even after death) is not faith. It is vile supremacism.
From where an objective eye sees, it is no different than ideas of those who took slaves of innocent men and the purveyors of White nationhood like the KKK. The fight for Supremacism is hypocritical, useless and lost as long as we lash out at one Supremacism as vile and defend another as faith. Numbers do NOT create the dangers of Supremacism, its evil intent does. And that, has no relation to numbers.
And, yes, one can be a “good person” to some despite the camp of Supremacists s/he passively belongs to. As Trump says of the Charlottesville racists or Zakaria says of the many Muslims.