When you fear something, you act differently because of it.  Many people are bandering the term around lately when people post events about Muslim men raping women on New Years Eve in Cologne, Germany.   Many people are bandering the term around lately when people post events about the San Bernadino Massacre. Many people are bandering the term around lately when people post events about The Friday the 13th Massacre in Paris.  

Are people posting these events and commenting on them because they have Islamaphobia?  Are they acting differently because of these events? 

 

If these events were caused by right wing radicals, surely they would have been posted and commented on just as the Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado Springs by Robert Lewis Dear on November 27, 2015.  How do people react to that incident?  I cannot speak for others, but I can tell you how I reacted to that incident.  I posted this event on Facebook and commented on it.  I commented on other articles posted on Facebook.  I commented how that using the ideology of killing people to make others conform to your beliefs or political agenda was wrong.  I recommended that people buy guns, get their concealed carry permit and actively carry a gun so that if such an active shooter event should occur, that they may save some people's lives by shooting back at the shooter.  I advised that people that have such an ideology should change their beliefs and I gave justifications as to why they should change their beliefs.

When the San Bernadino Massacre occurred, I posted this event on Facebook and commented on it.  I commented on other articles posted on Facebook.  I commented how that using the ideology of killing people to make others conform to your beliefs or political agenda was wrong.  I recommended that people buy guns, get their concealed carry permit and actively carry a gun so that if such an active shooter event should occur, that they may save some people's lives by shooting back at the shooter.  I advised that people that have such an ideology should change their beliefs and I gave justifications as to why they shoud change their beliefs.

Did I act differently because of it?  NO!  I acted the same as I would in any similar situation.

So then, what is really a good example of Islamaphobia?  Unni Wikan, professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway gave us an excellent example of Islamaphobia in 2001.  She said, “Norwegian women must take responsibility for the fact that Muslim men find their manner of dress provocative. And since these men believe women are responsible for rape, the women must adapt to the multicultural society around them.”

Now, that is changing your actions because of something you fear. That is the personification of Islamaphobia.

After the New Years Eve rapes in Cologne, Germany, Angela Merkel said, "Germans must accept that refugees are more criminal."