Tag: Eiynah

  • A general rift

    Eiynah at Nice Mangos tells the story of the targeted bullying she’s been subjected to lately. It’s a very full record so not something you can read in a couple of minutes, but it’s good to have details.

    For those asking over the past few days, wtf happened to start these mob attacks on me: Well…I’m not entirely sure, because they sort of came out of the blue. There’s a general rift in left-leaning atheists and right-leaning atheists. And ‘right-leaning’ is seen as some sort of slur, when it’s just an observation based on the politics coming from some of these types. If you’re anti-left on everything, and rarely ever anti-right…it says something. Especially today. Oh  – and there’s no gold star for seeing the most obvious flaws on the right, like Trump or Alt Right nationalists.

    However, this split continues to become more pronounced in these times of the rising far right. While lefties are looking to focus some of their criticism there, others are trying to resist and silence that criticism. 

    That general rift between left-leaning and right-leaning atheists (and skeptics) has been widening since at least 2011. Six long sweaty often unpleasant years.

    The latest explosion started with a disagreement over “Taqiya” and whether it’s a big deal or not. (Spoiler: it’s not.)

    The Nitty Gritty

    Gather round peeps, I’m gonna share a really absurd tale about supposed ex-muslim allies, supposed critics of sjw style ‘oppression olympics’ and sjw ideological purity tests…but who are now furious because an ex-muslim they disagree with ideologically/politically in their minds was not oppressed ENOUGH.A fellow ex-muslim, that I have personally promoted, jumped in happily to weigh-in on the drama and attempt to negate my lived experience by claiming I just *dabbled in oppression*, haven’t truly experienced it or anything… My life was like a 5 star resort apparently…and everyone else seems to be a good judge on what kind of life I had in sharia-land.

    There’s this bizarre idea that growing up in a compound for foreigners, in which there is a lot of freedom, is growing up free of oppression. Wut? Another word for “compound” is “ghetto”…or “prison.”

    Mostly, people on both ends have an issue with me because I refuse to pick a team. I think criticizing both Islamic far right and western far right is important. And I think in Trumpian times, It’s vital to focus *some* of my critique on the western right and its apologists. When that toxic stuff overlaps with criticism of Islam, it does nothing but muddy the waters, and hold back valid criticisms from resonating with the mainstream.

    Let me emphasize that one bit: I think criticizing both Islamic far right and western far right is important.

    Same here.

  • The emboldened bigotry vibe

    Eiynah wrote a terrific post at Nice Mangos a couple of months ago about the many ironic consequences of Donnie’s Brainless Ban.

    Amidst all the false accusations of ‘Islamophobia’ even when people of muslim background would raise their voices to mildly critique something like misogyny or homophobia in their own communities….there were some people spouting legitimate anti muslim bigotry, right alongside them…

    Unfortunately, that has boiled over.

    The resistance to allow open discussion of Islam, caused a massive failure to address grievances with Islamic extremism.

    This left the floor open for the right to swoop in and fear monger, campaign from an angle of xenophobia…it couldn’t be more obvious than in a time like this. Where muslims are being singled out by the fucking president of the United States…and banned.

    We see it all the time – like that time Sam Harris tried to browbeat Maryam into agreeing that he never carelessly (or worse) wandered into xenophobic territory when he talked about Islam, and she simply would not comply. Suddenly a whole crew of right-leaning male bloggers and Twitter jockeys who had been fans of hers discovered that actually she’s just the worst, man.

    This is a time where innocent muslims were shot while peacefully practising their faith, by a far-right, deranged Trump and Marine Le Pen supporter. People’s hijabs are being ripped off in the street, we hear of such stories more and more. The emboldened bigotry vibe seems infectious – people who were always slightly sympathetic, are more and more comfortable sharing their feelings now.

    What do right wing nationalists want exactly? What does Trump want? If he really hates muslims, he’s achieving the opposite of making them a widely detested group.

    Artwork by Shepard Fairey

    Precisely. Thanks to Trump, we now have that image of a woman in hijab as a lefty hero, as if veiling women were the ultimate in progressive thought.

    I prefer Eiynah’s version:

    Eiynah