Religious Bigotry

A call for papers is now open for the forthcoming issue of JCA. Please submit your manuscript to jca@academicstudiespress.com. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2019. All submissions are subjected to a blind peer review process. Your submission should comply with the authors’ guidelines, which may be found at https://www.academicstudiespress.com/s/InstructionsforJCAAuthors.pdf

Scholars of postwar American Jewish history have traditionally focused on highbrow texts in charting the shifting ways that “Jews,” as a category, has been defined and characterized. Including postwar middlebrow publications in our analysis offers a more comprehensive picture of the changing discursive representation of Jews during the twentieth century. Despite the fact that Gentleman’s Agreement rarely receives more than a line or two of mention in scholarly accounts of postwar Jews, it is a text that ably demonstrates the power that popular novels wield in shaping cultural sensibilities. Hobson was not the only 1940s novelist to publish an anti-Semitism themed novel, and her connection to a larger body of such literature contributes to the value of Gentleman’s Agreement. The novel’s best-selling status (and its adaptation into an Academy Award-winning film) is what makes it exceptional among this genre. The making of Gentleman’s Agreement, with all of the debate and opposition it aroused, indicated tectonic shifts within publishing circles and the wider American culture about how to treat the topic of Jews and anti-Semitism.

Anti-Jewishness persists because it is a simple, off-the shelf,
solution to so many possible aggrievements, embedded and
normalized by history across many cultures, including the
cultures of the world’s two largest religions and Marxism.
It requires little expense and no particular intelligence or
creativity, flourishing among intellectuals and the illiterate
alike. Anti-Jewishness is a time-tested system of resentment,
hate, fear, and conspiracy constructs that almost anyone
can play to experience strong senses of righteousness,
personal and social connection and empowerment. Jews
need not even be present. It is also a highly infectious social
disorder to which humans have no known antidote or
long-term immunity.

Anti-Jewishness has thus far been endemic for millennia
and unresponsive to reason, educational and public health
measures. Playing instructions and supportive subcultures
are readily available through publications, video, and film
media, social media, and the internet.

Adorno and Horkheimer, in their famous “Elements of Anti-Semitism” essay, argued that anti-Semitism has a specific economic purpose: to conceal domination in production and capitalist exploitation. Contemporary Islamophobia can be understood from the same functional perspective, despite many important differences between Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. This essay presents two Marxist theoretical models for thinking Islamophobia and racism, what I call the ‘failed revolutionary’ and the ‘projection of resentment’ models.

The following is a response to the unvarnished bigotry and swiftly descending police state that's coming to characterize the policy, actions, and ideology of the Donald Trump administration in the United States. It is written for a general audience as a response to a letter to the editor (in a feature called "30 Seconds") of the Press Enterprise, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. It is also posted at my blog:

http://thewrenchphilosleft.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-short-course-in-logic-of-bigotry-and.html

In the following paper, I evaluate the rise of the American Alt-Right, particularly as it's personified by Turning Point USA's Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk, in terms of the mercenary "ends justify the means" logic deployed to justify some of the misleading, distorted, or manifestly false claims organizations like this depend on to advance their white nationalist agendas.

The paper ranges widely over gun control, Kanye West's outrageous comments about slavery, Owen's illiteracy about contemporary feminism, and Kirk's theocratic aspirations. But the message is a simple on: TPUSA is the Alt-Right, and their offering of the Red Pill, or in Owens' case the RedPillBlack, is intended either as a narcotic to make us forget that the past can be a prologue to the future, or an hallucinogen to entrance us into believing--especially if we're black, female, poor, or indigenous--that there's no such thing as oppression in America.

Both are false, and both threaten to seduce us into complacency about the justice for which we must continue to struggle, not only in light of the inequalities of class, sex, gender, or race, but for the sake of preserving respect for the truth--the most endangered potential casualty of TPUSA's vision of "Western Civilization," that is the theocratic, heteropatriarchal ethnostate.

I have also divided the piece into three parts, for easier reading and digestion. The Bibliography is in Part 3.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF BISHOP JOHN JOSEPH IN PAKISTAN: SAD THAT WE DID NOT TAKE NOTE OF HIS MANIFESTO AGAINST RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY
This May 6, 2018 is the 20th martyrdom anniversary of a great fighter against religious persecution, Fr. (Dr.) John Joseph. His self-sacrifice represents one of the rare examples in the Subcontinent when a priest instead of leading a killing/raping mob of religious bigots sacrificed his life in protest against constant persecution of minorities specially Christians in Pakistan.
His martyrdom would have gone unnoticed, if six days before sacrificing his life at the altar of bigotry being indulged in the name of Islam in Pakistan,the Bishop of Faisalabad (Jhang), Dr John Joseph had not written an open letter to his friends world over. Unfortunately, this letter, blood chilling as well as full of resolve reached to addressees after he had sacrificed his life in protest. The State and Islamists in Pakistan made fun of his sacrifice by describing it as suicide and cowardice forgetting that sacrificing oneself against brute power is part of a revolutionary resistance in the world history. Hundreds of Communists and Buddhists monks sacrificed their lives in protest against US occupation of Vietnam, similarly, many women activists in Iran sacrificed their lives publicly against repression of women there.
His letter is, basically, a manifesto of how to understand and combat religious bigotry in Pakistan. However, it is relevant in other parts of the world, specially in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar where the juggernaut of majoritarian religious bigotry is running amok. Martyred Bishop's manifesto can be divided into following parts.
WHY BISHOP SACRIFICED HIS LIFE
ROOTS OF ISLAMIST BIGOTRY AND ITS NATURE
ONLY MINORITIES ARE NOT THE VICTIMS OF RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY
GO TO THE PEOPLE
https://countercurrents.org/2018/05/05/20th-anniversary-of-the-martyrdom-of-bishop-john-joseph-in-pakistan/

The enclosed essay is posted at the AAUP Academe Blog:

https://academeblog.org/2017/12/18/how-the-alt-right-seeks-to-sabotage-the-university/

It is the companion piece to "Letter to My Colleagues";

https://www.academia.edu/35322691/Letter_to_My_Colleagues_Concerning_Turning_Point_USA_and_Professor_Watchlist_Its_Time_for_Courage_and_Conviction

Abstract:

There is a great deal to be said about the rise of the Alt-Right over this past year, and while I understand the argument for identifying its platform with the ascent of white supremacism, I'd argue that " Alt-Right " encompasses something far more ambitious and dangerous, especially with respect to the country's most vital institutions: free elections, a free press, an open public square, and academic freedom. The Alt-Right endangers all of these in ways both as flagrantly racist and anti-Semitic as " Unite the Right " rallies—and as quietly cancerous as the growth of organizations aimed specifically at recruiting a young cadre of future white nationalists. Despite their misleading " free market, " libertarian-sounding mission statement, Turning Point USA, and its McCarthyesque Professor Watchlist demonstrably belong to the latter.

If somebody is looking for a gurukul or university to graduate from in deceit and lies, doubtlessly, the RSS will be his or her best choice. Its mastery over this trait is unparalleled and is proved once again by its criminal disregard of facts on the controversy over beef-eating in Indian history by Hindus of India. It aggressively claims that beef-eating started in India with the arrival of Muslims as rulers who initiated and subsequently popularized it in order to denigrate Hindus and their holy symbols. Such propaganda helps the Hindutva gang in terrorizing the largest minority of India. It is to be noted here that since the early 20th century, coinciding with the rise of Hindutva politics, cow has been the most important issue which has triggered the maximum cases of violence against the Muslims of the country. It is immaterial to the Indian heirs of Nazi propagandist Paul Joseph Goebbels that the claim that beef-eating started with the arrival of Muslims in India is not even in keeping with the Vedic version of history.
This article quotes Hindu sources to tell the true story. It appeared in BBC Hindi.

In this paper I respond to Linda McClain’s new book, Who’s the Bigot? Learning from Conflicts over Marriage and Civil Rights Law, by further clarifying the meaning and function of attributions of bigotry. In Section I, I put forth an analysis of bigotry and explain its relationship to related concepts such as racism. In Section II, I use this analysis to shed light on various “puzzles about bigotry” that McClain identifies in her first chapter and references throughout the book. In Section III, I discuss the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, comparing and contrasting it to other refusals of service (including those involving baker Marjorie Silva of Azucar Bakery and restauranteur Maurice Bessinger of Piggie Park BBQ) to draw lessons about ongoing controversies.

ये वे सवाल हैं जो हिन्दुत्वादी गिरोह से पूछे जाने चाहिएं
जब भी मैं लोकतांत्रिक-धर्मनिरपेक्ष भारत की रक्षा में अल्पसंख्यकों, दलितों, महिलाओं और मजदूर वर्ग के उत्पीड़न के खिलाफ लिखता हूं, मेरे द्वारा उठाए गए मुद्दों और सवालों का जवाब देने के बजाए हिंदुत्व टोली जवाब देने के बजाय मुझ पर वयक्तिगत हमले करते हैं जिनका एक ही मक़सद होता है की मुझे अपमानित किया जाए. उनके लिए मेरा नाम और धर्म द्वेषी हमलों का मुख्य लक्ष्य बन जाता है. मुझे और मेरे परिवार पर गालियों की बौछार की जाती है. हिंदुत्व गिरोह इस मुद्दे को सांप्रदायिक बनाने की कोशिश करता है. इन हमलों के अनुसार मुस्लमान और इस्लाम धर्म भारत और विश्व में हर बुराई के कारण हैं. इस तरह के हमलों से निपटने के लिए मैंने भारतीय और विश्व इतिहास की घटनाओं की एक सूची तैयार की है. मैं इस सूची पर उनकी प्रतिक्रिया चाहता हूं। मैं इसे दोस्तों के साथ साझा कर रहा हूं ताकि जब भी हिंदुत्ववादी फासीवादी मुस्लिम नामों वाले धर्मनिरपेक्ष कार्यकर्ताओं पर हमला करंे तो इस सूची के साथ इस गिरोह का सामना करें। वास्तव में, यह सूची उन सभी लोगों के लिए एक संसाधन सामग्री के रूप में काम कर सकती है जो हिंदुत्व गिरोह के ध्रुवीकरण के एजेंडे को उजागर करना चाहते हैं।
For English version:
https://www.academia.edu/29341395/YES_MUSLIMS_COMMITTED_ALL_THESE_CRIMES_

It is undeniable Blockbusters such as the Taken trilogy gives a lot of profits to producers and directors. However, in staging the movies' storyline, brilliant producers and directors sometimes exploit their talents to exemplify certain propaganda and ideologies in subtle way. These ideologies and propagandas may be troublesome as they sometimes might be sensitive and offending some cultures, beliefs, practices or community groups. For some community such as the Muslims, their beliefs and values had been targeted by the media in a very disrespectful and insolent manner. The Taken trilogy, Dracula Untold, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Ironman, My Name is Khan and 300 are the examples of Blockbusters that portray such damaging stereotype to the Muslim community. These bestsellers depict Muslims as fanatics, suicide bombers, radicals, oppressed, slaves, extremists and terrorists. It goes without saying violent, cruelty, brutality, and ruthless connotations are often associated with Muslims. As a result of these irresponsible propagandas, all Muslims have to live in distress especially those who live in the West. They have to pay the price for the things they have not done. Muslims have been abused mentally and physically especially women. They are being targeted in publics because of their hijab. There are many cases involving women Muslims being harassed, beaten, and mocked by the Islamophobes as for them hijab is a symbol of oppression. On the other hand, men and children are abused for their Arab-looking faces and names in some countries. Some educational institutions and employers hinder the enrolment of Muslims in their sectors prior to the reasons. The primal question of this stereotype is why Muslims is the only community being targeted though extremists are found in every religion? Practicing Muslims know this perpetuated propagandas by racist blockbusters are entirely misguided. True Islamic teachings do not promote any violence and brutality. Instead, it is a religion that advocates peace, brotherhood, equality and humanity as its base principle. Nonetheless, moderate attempts in encountering Islamophobia have been taken by those who are conscientious. Although it has been only done in small measures, some companies and directors of big screens had established movies that portray Muslims as morally good characters. Movies and TV-series exhibit real Muslims values are Non-stop, Camp X-ray, Kingdom of Heaven and Quantico. The movie My name Is Khan, for instance illustrate the real double distress of Muslims, especially in the West after the 9/11 catastrophe. The double distress they encountered was the fear of being attacked by the terrorists and stereotyped by the Islamophobics.

Islamophobia is on the rise in the U.S. and in Europe, often expressed through threats and intimidation, but sometimes also by violent hate crimes and deadly attacks on Muslims. How can we stop the cycle of hate and violence? It’s simple: Stop promoting the violent and polarizing “civilization clash” ideology and learn to embrace diversity.

On 73rd Martyrdom Anniversary of MK Gandhi
THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSASSINS OF GANDHIJI AS DISCLOSED BY SARDAR PATEL
The world is mourning the 73rd anniversary of MK Gandhi's assassination by the Hindutva terrorists on January 30, 1948. RSS, the most prominent flag-bearer of the Hindutva politics and cadres of which rule India today reacts angrily whenever the truth is spoken or written that the criminals who assassinated Gandhiji were not only part of the ideological world-view of Hindu Mahasabha (led by VD Savarkar) and RSS brand of Hindu nationalism but were also connected with these. Instead of being ashamed of such a heinous crime it resorts to lies ably expressed in the proverb; the pot calling the kettle black!
Let us compare the RSS claim of innocence in Gandhiji's assassination with the views of the first home minister and deputy PM of India, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel on the perpetrators of this crime. It needs no reminding that Sardar continues to be a favourite of the RSS and the present PM Modi who got his statue in Gujarat, the tallest in the world. He never thought of such a statue for Gandhiji. It will be interesting to know that our PM, an 'atm-nirbhar Bharat' (self-relying India) Messiah who never misses to utter prophetic words like Make in India, got it moulded in an iron-foundry of China!
In the following is the compilation in chronological order the communications of Sardar Patel's home ministry, his letters to Jawaharlal Nehru, Syama Prasad Mookerjee (the then head of Hindu Mahasabha) and MS Golwalkar (the then Supremo of the RSS) on Gandhiji's assassination. THIS CHRONOLOGICAL PRESENTATION CLEARLY SHOWS HOW SARDAR PATEL DEVELOPED HIS UNDERSTANDING (WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN BASED ON FACTS SUPPLIED BY HIS OFFICIALS) OF THE ROLE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN GANDHIJI'S ASSASSINATION.

When a Delhi judge sentenced the son of a Haryana-based industrialist to two years’ imprisonment on Saturday for mowing down a motorcyclist with his luxury car in 2008, he couldn’t help but observe how present-day laws provide more stringent punishment to perpetrators of cattle-related crimes than errant drivers who take human lives.
BHARAT MATA KI JAI!
It is reproduction of a judgement of a senior Delhi Judge where latter's anguish is to be read and believed.
Courtesy Hindustan Times.

आधुनिक विश्व इतिहास के बदतरीन तानाशाह हिटलर ने जर्मनी पर नाज़ी पार्टी का पूरी तरह शिकंजा कसे जाने के बाद गर्व से घोषणा की थी कि नाज़ी पार्टी की इस सफ़लता की सब से बड़ी वजह जर्मनी के विश्वविद्यालयों पर नाज़ियों का आधिपत्य स्थापित होना था। भारत का मौजूदा आरएसएस/बीजेपी नेतृत्व दिन-रात इसी पवित्र काम में लगा है। इस उद्देश्य को हासिल करने के लिए वे दोहरी रणनीति पर काम कर रहे हैं। एक है देश की उच्च शिक्षा संस्थानों, खासकर बौद्धिक उत्कृष्टता और स्वतंत्र वैचारिक अभिवयक्ति के लिए प्रसिद्ध राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा संस्थाओं, के खिलाफ सीधा युद्ध छेड़ना। इस हमले के भी दो पहलू हैं। एक है JNU, Jadavpur University, Delhi University, Hyderabad Central University और Poona Film Institute जैसी संस्थाओं को राष्ट्रविरोधी केंद्रों के रूप में चिन्हित करना । और फिर ABVP, आरएसएस के प्रचारक उपकुलपतियों, हिंदुत्व के पक्षधर विचारकों के साझा अभियान दुवारा हिन्दुत्वादी और हिन्दू राष्ट्रवादी चिंतन से असहमत शिक्षकों, छात्रों और कर्मचारियों पर हिंसक हमले करना । इस के बाद पुलिस की मिलीभगत से उनकी गिरफ्तारियां और राष्ट्रदिरोह जैसे इल्ज़ामों में मुक़दमों की बौछार।
यह सब कितनी सीना जोरी से हो रहा है इस का अंदाज़ा इन शिक्षा संस्थाओं में घटी कुछ शर्मनाक घटनाओं को जानकर भली-भांति लगाया जा सकता है। 
JNU के उपकुलपति ने हाल ही में यह मांग की है कि तमाम केंद्रीय विश्वविद्यालयों में और खासकर उनकी जागीर JNU में सेना के टैंक को स्थापित किया जाए । फिलहाल तो उनकी मांग सेवा से बाहर एक टैंक खड़ा करने की है लेकिन यह महोदय कब सच-मुच के सेना टैंकों को विश्वविद्यालयों में आमंत्रित करेंगे इस खतरे को नज़र अंदाज़ नहीं किया जासकता। याद रहे की यह मांग कुलपति महोदय ने एक भूत-पूर्व सेना अधिकारी की मौजूदगी में की जिन्हों ने खुल्ले-आम कहा कि JNU ही नहीं बल्कि राष्ट्रविरोधी तत्वों के क़ब्ज़े में "कई क़िले हैं जैसे की Jadavpur और Hyderabad University जिनपर हमारी सेना ने क़ब्ज़ा करना होगा". 
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What is below started as an inspiration during the Impeachment Hearings; and, the State of The Union Message by Donald Trump – how he used the February Black Month Reflection to his advantage for his 2020 Re-election.

All the Stars in the Cosmos, including our Sun – their White Light originates from the countless Black Holes that are found in the Cosmos. Yes, Allah (God, Dao …) stores His White Light in Black Holes. And then He starts His process of Creation, when the Black Holes burst in what we call a Big Bang, followed by Evolution … zmmnipnb

We all are living in times of deceit. Certain developments call for serious introspection if our collective conscience as a nation still pricks us. In the words of Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, if we do not change direction, we may end up where we are heading, an implosion from within. This is absolutely true for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s greatest crisis is the ‘climate of bigotry’. The worst manifestation of this was the lynching of the non-Muslim Sri Lankan manager of a Sialkot factory on frivolous blasphemy accusations. It was correctly described as “a monumental failure of both policy and moral courage” by this paper. A debate in parliament saw both the government and opposition blaming the lapses in the criminal justice system. No one had the courage to admit that the state policy of appeasement and society’s moral decay has made us hostage to bigotry and violent extremism.

This article puts forward the proposition that, in the manner that it is measured in most studies today, the current definition of political tolerance is too similar to that of our understanding of what democracy stands for. Consequently, most research
has assumed the importance of political tolerance for democracy and then focused
most efforts on trying to explain how political tolerance can be protected, upheld,
or explained. Therefore current approaches overshoot the more fundamental problem
of saying something more substantial about how various forms of political intolerance or tolerance can be related to democratic performance. The critique formulated here – and the solution to it – involves a closer scrutiny of the value systems
of tolerant and intolerant individuals. It involves taking into account regime
preferences and levels of knowledge when assessing the stance individuals may
take regarding the political rights of disliked groups or individuals. This enables us to separate categories of intolerant and tolerant individuals on the basis of their motivation for the position they adopt. Categorization in that way can tell us more about the viability of democracy and the choice of efforts to reinforce it, than can previous measurements and definitions of political tolerance.

This interview of Shamsul Islam appeared in 2012 on the issue of heightened RSS activity in Kerala. But the questions and answers both touch upon issues applicable in whole of India and relevant even today. Interviewer was Mr. Reyaz and it is being reproduced with thanks to Twocircles.net

"(A) CREATIVE WORK: This Doctorate of Creative Arts is based on a two-hour radio documentary/feature series entitled ‘Marrying Out’, which draws on 50 oral history interviews recorded by the candidate on the topic of family conflict and sectarianism associated with mixed marriage between Catholics and Protestants in Australia to the 1970s. The series seeks to harness the aesthetics of long-form crafted radio so as to allow oral history to achieve its fullest force, by emphasising orality while enhancing the interview’s ‘listenability’ and impact through carefully judged radio production techniques.

(B) EXEGESIS:

The exegesis examines the proposition that the genres of oral history and long-form radio journalism have intersecting characteristics as well as divergent aims, and that each genre can benefit the other. It discusses how oral history debates around interview practice, memory, subjectivity, reliability and interpretation concur with or depart from journalistic interviewing for radio documentaries and features. It assays the characteristics of the radio medium and its affinity with storytelling. It argues that oral history research is most authentically rendered in aural rather than printed form, and that its creative treatment for radio legitimately enhances its inherent personal aspect.

The exegesis asks whether the aesthetic interpretation of oral history in this crafted radio form (documentary/feature) and the distillation imposed by radio editing increases its ‘listenability’. While noting the rigorous research that is the foundation for high quality radio documentaries (such as those that win broadcasting awards or air on esteemed public broadcasting organisations such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)), the exegesis explores whether the range and personal nature of oral history research can expand the scope and impact of the radio program.

The candidate proposes that the broadcast genre which places thoroughly researched oral history at the heart of creative storytelling on radio be labelled a ‘Doc-OH Feature’, a form that sits on the radio documentary/feature continuum. The exegesis concludes with a detailed case study of the making of the Doc-OH-Feature series 'Marrying Out'.

[Note:in 2011 the author substituted the term 'COHRD' (Crafted Oral History Radio Documentary) for 'Doc-Oh-Feature']"