When Remaining Quiet is Not Loving

The difference between "loving everyone" and being quiet in the face of false charges, attacks and vilification...

I know that I sometimes come across as strident in discussions with my more conservative neighbors. I stand strongly for some points and strongly against some points and use harsh words sometimes to describe what I believe to be harmful points.

Why not get along? I hear regularly.

And getting along is vital and important and by and large, I strive for that.

But here is an example of where, it seems to me, we need to “get along” and where and when we need to draw lines and speak out:

A more conservative friend recently posted that great meme that says something like, “Love your neighbor who doesn't... Look like you; Think like you; Speak like you; Pray like you; Vote like you... Love your neighbor. No exceptions.”

Excellent point and of course, I agreed and I said so.

But then, someone (let's say, Ralph) added in a comment below that, “Ah, but it's not plausible with Muslims because they are required to assimilate or annihilate all non-believers...”

Now, I'm getting along with everyone. Loving everyone. Loving the Muslims this person mentioned and loving the man who's probably Christian who made that comment.

BUT, here's the line: When christian Ralph made that claim (which is, of course, a false claim), because I love Muslims, I need to speak out and point out that the claim is a false one. And given the minority and sometimes harassed status of Muslims here in the US, it is a potentially harmful false claim, as it demonizes a group that are at risk of being targets for oppression/harm.

Because I love Muslims, as well as other believers and non-believers, it is important to speak out.

It's not enough to “live and let live...” To say, “Oh, Ralph! He just says stuff like that and I kinda disagree... but I'll be quiet because I don't want to confront him...” It's not enough to quietly ignore the false and potentially harmful claim because to do so is to help allow an oppressive foothold to take hold.

I pointed out, politely, that the claim was, of course, false. I politely noted that passing on false claims is not helpful in the cause of Loving Everyone, which was the point of the post.

Ralph responded by saying “YOU HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT...” He then cited a video by “Dr David Woods, PhD in Philosophy of Religion” as “proof” that I was wrong and his claim was factual.

I watched the video and I tried to discover what Woods' expertise is in Islam. There's not much out there about Woods except what he claims. He claims to be an expert in Islam, saying he's read some ancient Islamic writings and quotes the Quran. He claims to have this PhD from a reputable college.
However, there are no books by Wood, no peer-reviewed articles that I could find. Nothing I could find to even validate his studies or his PhD. Just his claims. Oh, and by the way, he is a very conservative Christian.

Now, could Wood be an actual expert in Islam... or could he at least have studied Islam some? Sure, it's possible. But when he talks in his videos (most of his “work” I could find consisted of his videos harshly criticizing Islam and Atheists), he does not present as scholarly. He presents as bigoted and arrogant... as if HE is in a better place to say what “true Muslims” believe, because he read several books and the Quran... perhaps even read them multiple times.

But then, I've also read actual Muslim scholars (which includes Muslim scholars, as well as former Muslims who are informed about Islam and able to critique it from a place of expertise, as well as Christian scholars who are actually familiar with Islamic writings and traditions... people with some credentials beyond their claims of expertise) and know that, of course, as with all religions, there are a range of beliefs in Islam and that no one group within Islam can speak as the authoritative deciders for what is and isn't “true Islam...”

And then, I had Wood and his claims of his expertise on Islam, and I had Ralph, who thought Wood's video was sufficient “evidence” to “prove” that I was wrong and had “NO FREAKING CLUE...”

So, returning to the idea of loving everyone, which would include speaking out in defenses of a group or the Other that is being attacked or slandered, I made a polite follow up comment, saying that I watched Wood's video and was not impressed and that there are other experts out there with whom I am more familiar and find more credible. And I asked the question, “Why is this one conservative Christian the right 'expert' to rely upon over and against all the other experts and scholars I am more familiar with?”

Ralph's response was, “You're a f****-ing idiot! Dr David Wood... is as much an expert on Islam as exists on this planet.”

That was helpful. But why? Why is he a trusted expert? Why does his opinion outweigh all other opinions? And, really, a leading expert on Islam “as exists on this planet...”?

No answers from Ralph.

Of course, we can see that Ralph was getting very emotionally distraught and not responding to correct his false claims, nor responding to reasonable questions, nor acknowledging the existence of other Muslim scholars who disagree with Woods and Ralph, and that Ralph was responding with ad hom attacks instead of reasonable dialogue. Which is fine, he's free to do so.

But the point is, the person who made the post about Loving everyone, even those who disagree with you, is one who often finds my comments divisive and arrogant (or so he says). And yet, in this lovely post about loving everyone, even those you disagree with, he remained silent in the face of the false claim about Muslims and the personal attacks on me.

And again, I don't care about the ad hom attacks, that's not the point.

The point is that it is not divisive to point out a potentially harmful false claim. We owe it to our neighbors who are being vilified to correct false claims... especially if they are part of a potentially harassed minority, which in our circumstances, Muslims are.

By pointing out the false claim, I was not failing to love my neighbor with whom I disagree... I was siding with my (in this case) Muslim neighbors (with whom I disagree on points, to be sure), defending them against a false claim. And, truly, I was also loving my neighbor, Ralph, with whom I disagree, because he hopefully wouldn't want to pass on false claims that are potentially harmful.

So, yes, let's love our neighbors with whom we disagree. But part of that is not being silent when one neighbor falsely or unjustly attacks another neighbor. Being quiet in deference to the neighbor that perhaps I share more in common when they attack a minority, harassed neighbor is not “loving our neighbors. No exceptions.”