It appears pro-confederate anti-Muslims didn't take long to come up with a lovely post-San Bernardino meme. Earlier today, I stumbled upon this post courtesy of a friend on Facebook:
"if the shooting by a window licking retard with a bowl haircut in south carolina is cause for banning the confederate battle flag, removing statues of confederate soldiers and erasing southern history then the shooting by the muslim in san bernardino is cause for banning the hijab, the quran, muslim symbols and all mosques on american soil"
This is of course a prime example of the fallacy known as false equivalence. Islam is a religion. The First Amendment of the Constitution provides us the right to believe in and worship as we so choose. The last time I checked, the Confederacy is not a religion, so therefore the meme is comparing apples to oranges.
If the author(s) of this meme wanted to be more consistent, they could say this:
"The shooting by the Muslim in San Bernardino should be cause for the banning of the hijab, the quran, Muslim symbols, and all mosques on American soil! Being consistent with this, we should also ban the Bible, churches, and Christian symbols as well."
The meme also exaggerates in some respects. The Confederate flag, long a controversial symbol, has seen its odds of being sold on the shelves of stores decrease quite substantially since the South Carolina shooting, however, there hasn't been a complete ban placed on the object. Also, while there have been petitions going around about the removal of Confederate soldiers' statues, there hasn't been a great deal of success with that objective. Lastly, Southern history was not in any way erased because of the mass shooting mentioned in the meme. However, an increasing number of people would like for die-hard Confederates to finally admit they lost the war, they're citizens of the United States of America, would like to place our racist past in the distant rear-view, and continually progress toward a better future.
People can argue as much as they'd like that the Confederate flag is an expression of free speech and should always be protected, but they'd be committing the false equivalence fallacy if they equate that to the Islamic faith, as the latter is a religion and the former is not. Also, in singling out Islam even though there have been multiple mass shootings in the name of different religions in this country, including Christianity, the meme also showcases a double-standard, likely xenophobia, and on its way to committing the slippery slope fallacy if it remained consistent across all religious demographics.
"if the shooting by a window licking retard with a bowl haircut in south carolina is cause for banning the confederate battle flag, removing statues of confederate soldiers and erasing southern history then the shooting by the muslim in san bernardino is cause for banning the hijab, the quran, muslim symbols and all mosques on american soil"
This is of course a prime example of the fallacy known as false equivalence. Islam is a religion. The First Amendment of the Constitution provides us the right to believe in and worship as we so choose. The last time I checked, the Confederacy is not a religion, so therefore the meme is comparing apples to oranges.
If the author(s) of this meme wanted to be more consistent, they could say this:
"The shooting by the Muslim in San Bernardino should be cause for the banning of the hijab, the quran, Muslim symbols, and all mosques on American soil! Being consistent with this, we should also ban the Bible, churches, and Christian symbols as well."
The meme also exaggerates in some respects. The Confederate flag, long a controversial symbol, has seen its odds of being sold on the shelves of stores decrease quite substantially since the South Carolina shooting, however, there hasn't been a complete ban placed on the object. Also, while there have been petitions going around about the removal of Confederate soldiers' statues, there hasn't been a great deal of success with that objective. Lastly, Southern history was not in any way erased because of the mass shooting mentioned in the meme. However, an increasing number of people would like for die-hard Confederates to finally admit they lost the war, they're citizens of the United States of America, would like to place our racist past in the distant rear-view, and continually progress toward a better future.
People can argue as much as they'd like that the Confederate flag is an expression of free speech and should always be protected, but they'd be committing the false equivalence fallacy if they equate that to the Islamic faith, as the latter is a religion and the former is not. Also, in singling out Islam even though there have been multiple mass shootings in the name of different religions in this country, including Christianity, the meme also showcases a double-standard, likely xenophobia, and on its way to committing the slippery slope fallacy if it remained consistent across all religious demographics.
The Constitution that you site protects free speech, not just freedom of religion. Both are in the same First Amendment fruit basket.
ReplyDeleteThe actual false equivalency here is comparing the Bible with the Quran. They are equivalent only in being spiritual books. Beyond that they are polar opposites.
If you cannot see the problem with your false narrative here then there is no point in exposing the myopic tripe in the rest or your screed. But consider this: you have lost all credibility and exposed your own anti-Christian bias by trying to assign mass shootings to any other religion than Islam. Which ‘other’ religions? Fact check; mass shootings ascribed to Christianity = None. Nada. Zip. Zero. Go ahead and try to name one but let me give you a head start. The Oklahoma bomber was a self-described, self-centered, agnostic.
Here is why this is true and Islam and Christianity are polar opposites; Allah tells his followers to go out and kill innocent people for them to earn ‘Paradise’. The God of the Bible says He came and sacrificed Himself for our guilt so He may come live with us then afterward, make Heaven our home.
Quit believing all the junk you have been told and believe that Almighty God actually loves you and cares for you. Let everything else go. Read John 3:16 (and verses 15 and 17!) for yourself and start believing He is saying this to you.