Anti-Muslim polemics function to define their authors’ identity rather than describe Islam.

Evidence

Some volumes more than echo past perspectives: Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross (1993, 2006), for instance, begins by citing Zwemer. This book’s goal of providing Christians with counterarguments to Islamic beliefs – “preparing you with strong apologetic answers” –reflects how the perpetuation of Islamophobia often represents more of an effort to positively define those making the allegations than accurately describe Muslims or Islam. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 124

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the idea of outgroup construction as ingroup self-definition found in identity theory and social psychology of prejudice. — connects to: Antiterrorism frames enemies as aberrant individuals rather than political claimants. — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 279; Encyclopedists used Islam as a disguised symbol for criticizing Christianity; He then quotes a Palestinian fighter in Afghanistan to show his definition of jihad: holy war against the West and violence against ‘Jews and infidels.’ Such a simplistic and superficial definition of jihad causes him to blame all Muslims for the consequences of militant Islam. His book leaves readers with the idea that all Muslim immigrants are potential terrorists simply because they are Muslim. He completely ignores the identity of the American Muslim population, painting Islam as a ‘foreign’ and ‘terrorist’ ideology that has penetrated American society. In short, his book depicts any identification with Islam as a threat everyone, non-Muslims and Muslims alike because it cannot coexist with other religions due to its inherent nature of allowing Muslims to impose their faith on others. Furthermore, Emerson deliberately leaves the word ‘Allah’ untranslated in his book in order to give off the idea that the Muslims’ concept of God is different from the Judeo-Christian concept of God. He also uses terminology such as ‘holy jihad’ and ‘militant jihad’ in order to instill fear in his readers. (+12 more)
• SEED: Could seed an essay on how moralistic attacks reveal more about the attacker’s self-image than their target — applicable beyond religion.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Islamophobic claims serve to positively define their speakers rather than describe Muslims #corroborates (0.95)