When Peter King Calls You “Rad,” It Isn‘t A Compliment

By

Briscoe Pugh

for According to me...By B

Recently, Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY) called for and held hearings on the “radicalization of American Muslims” in his capacity as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Rep. King’s viewpoints on the Muslim community in America became quite clear in the days leading up to the hearings.

The hearings themselves were based on assertions Rep. King has held for some time that,

-Muslim-Americans by-and-large have not been cooperative with authorities in preventative measures against terror attacks on American soil

-“85%” of Muslim mosques in America are presided over by radical clerics

-Most Muslims are encouraged in their mosques to ignore extremism.

All of the above comes on the heels of earlier commentary Rep. King made asserting that “there are too many mosques in this country.”

The fetishization of the popularized imagery of the "radical" or "extremist" has taken its place next to, yet opposite from the popular, imagery of the so-called "patriot". I am of the opinion that radicalization by its definition as a process enjoys no religious specificity. The extreme nature of any radical stream of thought is something which anyone is vulnerable to in my opinion. I believe that it is the pressure of extreme circumstances which can give rise to perspectives and agendas which might be labeled as "radical."

My opinion:

I believe it is unjust to marry radicalization or extremism to a singular dogma or to exclude any one dogma from any perceived, potential influence of extreme or radical thought.

When cherry picking in this fashion, I believe we serve to unjustly demonize certain groupings, while unduly glorifying others in comparison. I am GLAD Rep. King had these hearings.

Yes. I’m glad.

I’m glad because sometimes in moves like his (which are little more than him grinding that particularly large ax he has to grind with Islam) we are forced into certain conversations we might not normally have.

In having those hearings...and talking about them, we all may just be forced to examine on a tangible level just what actually causes radicalization. We might even have the hard truth revealed that unlike the popularized perceptions people like Rep. King love to cite and reinforce by their references to them, Islam is NOT a “violent religion”. You might be forced to examine Islam from the perspective of the larger prophetic Abrahamic tradition from which it springs.

This is part of a religious conversation I may visit again soon.

I digress.

In my reading of the (Merriam Webster) dictionary definition of the term “radical,” I discovered something.

One of the definitions listed is, “advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs”...

At the end of that particular definition, the parenthesized example given happens to be written as “the radical right”.

You’ll have to pardon me. I giggled to myself just a little when I read it and I think you might too.

My message here is simple.

It is a difficult thing to detect radicalization as those in certain authority tend to want to define it.

If you know a Muslim family and see the men are growing longer beards lately or speaking and/or learning Arabic (for non-Arab Muslims), gathering more publicly amongst those of the same faith and dressing in more culturally specific, Arab inspired and designed clothing, would this be a matter of concern or even fear for you?

Does this same alarm exist where one sees Hasidic families more visibly expressing their faith and culture?

What of Christian expressions of faith and how much of it has become politicized?

Each of the “Big 3” religious expressions can be interpreted to inspire and justify extreme (even murderous) behavior. Whenever one embraces a religious doctrine wherein prophets of which have called for murder and even themselves killed, and doesn’t qualify their reading of the doctrine with historical, social or political context, extreme behaviors from some amongst its faithful is inevitable.

The embrace of ANY religious faith is by its very definition “radical”. It demands an elemental change in one’s worldview and interactions as well as one’s motivations.

Other factors that people such as Rep. King do not examine which also lead to the “radicalization” he so fears have absolutely NOTHING to do with one’s religious beliefs.

Now, we happen to see with our own eyes the indignation and uproar in America if the masses are denied even mistakenly certain creature comforts.

(“WHAT??? Excuse me...but I ordered a LARGE latte and this is clearly a MEDIUM...”)

What if...

In an already poverty stricken country, a little boy who barely has enough to eat sees family members killed, kidnapped and/or brutalized at the hands of a despotic government and wealthy dictator whom has been armed, funded and endorsed by this thing he has known as “America”...then...

This same child grows older and sees armament and military might used against his own people by his own people at the behest of this same dictator...supplied by “America”...

Then...by the time he matures into manhood, planes fly overhead...explosions kill everyone he knows and all news reports say that “America” has bombed “strategic targets” yet no mention is made of the neighborhood where he sifts through the detritus that used to be his family, friends, neighbors...life...?

What would you think if you were that boy?

What would you feel if you were that boy?

Would your anger be justified?

Would you have an issue with this entity called America that seems for all you have seen to wield the power of death with impunity?

I ask these questions for a very specific reason.

What in ANY of the aforementioned process I just cited (which is typical for what is happening all over the so-called “Third World” right now) is specific to a particular religious doctrine?

This young man is exactly the one an extremist organization would prey upon...and it is THEN that religion becomes distorted into a tool to manipulate angry, young people to kill.

It is this young man and those like him...products of strife in their environments and victims of long dismissive American foreign policy who are prepared for extremism and radicalization by an unwitting Western populace whom (out of fear via fear mongers, like Rep. King) supports by popular vote a legacy of xenophobia married to military might.

Now, let me be PERFECTLY CLEAR...

I categorically do NOT support murderous acts perpetrated for ANY reason...whether sanctioned by extremist religious movements...or governments.

Let’s be intellectually honest however, in what it is we brand wholesale as “radical” or “extreme” and what role religion REALISTICALLY plays in the process of radicalization.

Peace and progress, my people.