Friday, July 21, 2006

Labeling Mohammedans

A lot of people are struggling for a good term for the Mohammedan terrorists who are a war with the civilized world. Just calling them terrorists is inadequate because it makes them sound like random criminals, when they are really part of an organized movement. Calling them moslems or muslims sounds like religious intolerance. Some people prefer Islamofascist, Islamonazi, Islamic jihadists, and others. Some people that the label Nazi is appropriate because they their main objectives seem to be killing Jews and taking over the world.

I prefer to just stick with the term Mohammedan. As I understand it, the term Islam was popularized to separate the religious aspects from the political aspects of Mohammedanism. But when I want to emphasize those political aspects, then I need a term that is broader than Islam or moslem.

One objection I sometimes hear is that the good mohammedans might be annoyed at being lumped in with the extremists, jihadists, and terrorists. I hope that they are annoyed, and that they speak up against those who dominate their culture.

No comments: