We need to talk about Paris. And Sydney. And Peshawar. To start with.
In light of the disgusting acts of evil committed in these cities, many people on social media share their sympathies with the tragic loved ones of the victims and express their horror at the atrocities. We are also reminded not to tarnish all people who follow the Islam faith with the same brush. Here’s the problem. The way we talk about these events makes this much more difficult.
I want us to talk differently about these events because I believe that we are trapped in a language that benefits these scumbags. When we say Islamic extremists, in that wording, we are presupposing that the people who commit these acts of terror are following Islam in an extremist manner. They are not following Islam in an extreme manner. They are murdering people. Plain and simple.
Last year, a lonely and mentally ill sociopathic teenager went into a school and murdered six people with a knife and gun. He said he did it because he was rejected by women. At the end of last year, a bunch of guys entered a school in Peshawar and murdered 131 children and 9 teachers. They said they did it in retaliation for a military operation by the army. But that’s not why they did it. That is their justification.
When you kill innocent people, you have to justify yourself. So they do. But there is a big difference between the justification used to do something and the actual reason why something is done. These men who killed those people in Paris. They claim it is a result of a cartoon. It’s not. It’s as a result of them being murderers and believing whatever bullshit propaganda some angry evil lunatic puts in their simple little heads.
They are hiding away somewhere delighted with themselves. As the media condemns the attack, they are known for exactly what they wanted to be known. They are proud of being ‘extremists’ because they feel like they are doing good work for their religion. In the condemnation by the press, there is the explanation of the reason they did what they did. But it wasn’t a reason. It is an excuse. Human beings lie about why they do what they do all the time.
Here is my point. Paris. Sydney. Pakistan. None of them had anything to do with Islam. That was just their attempt at justifying it. Let’s say I was to kill someone on the street and when asked why I did it I said ‘because they were eating chocolate’ or ‘because they teased me for wearing black socks’… how would I be labelled in the media? It would be as a killer. A murderer. Because that is what I would be.
The more we label them Islamist extremists, the more we feed them. They need to be labeled MURDERERS. That is what they are. Like we do not go around saying that all people with a mental illness are evil and bad, it is equally moronic to label all Muslims as anything.
Over the last few years, I have been to many Muslim countries. Turkey, Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, UAE, Oman to name but a few. I have Muslim friends. I’ve met Islamic extremists and they have beliefs that are very different to mine. I’ve met Christian extremists and they have beliefs that are very different to mine. Some of the beliefs of these extremists from both religions, I disagree with strongly. But the extremists I met do not believe in murder. They do not believe in killing.
Islam is a beautiful religion. It is full of incredibly wonderful people. And then there are people who call themselves Muslim but they are an embarrassment to their religions, families and communities. To me, a cleric that incites hatred and promotes violence is not really a cleric. He is just a nasty man with a real stupidity and ignorance about his own religion. He is insulting to his own religion. The murderers and organisers of murder are also insulting their own religion.
There is a huge irony here. They kill people in Paris because of a cartoon insulting Muhammad when they themselves are spitting on their religion through their actions. Murderers exist all over the world. They are atheists, agnostics, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and other religions.
Let’s stop using Islam in our conversations about these people. They are not Muslims. They are just murderers. If that is how we start to see them, it will help them see that there will be no more recognition for the religious nature of their crimes. Because there is none.
I want to attack them by revealing that they are not proving anything except they are a disgusting insult to what they purport to hold dear. I want them to feel the shame of knowing that the murders they commit are only explained by the twisted logic of their brainwashed head. That they are nothing more than pathetic, spineless pawns of even more pathetic and spineless leaders who are sad little men with serious mental issues.
I know it is not much. But it is a start. I am angry that people like this exist. I am so sad for the victims and their loved ones. They will continue to commit these horrifying atrocities. We will continue to weep for the victims. But one, fundamental change that we can do is to change how we talk about them. We can talk differently about Paris. And Sydney. And Pakistan. Differently. Just to remind ourselves that there is only one divide that should matter. The good people. And the murderers.
