Liberal framing of the good-bad Muslim divide enables right-wing conspiracy theories

Evidence

Islamophobia lifted Harris, Hirsi Ali, Ben Shapiro, and their ideological allies to new levels of acclaim. They dismissed Islamophobia as a “myth,” a Trojan horse used by Muslim civic organizations to push extremist agendas while “masquerading as a human rights organization.” Although self-styled “progressives,” Harris, Hirsi Ali, and those who shared their views discounted the suffering inflicted upon Muslims by the American War on Terror, or dismissed the gravity of the new crusades it fed. Islamophobia served as an ideological meeting point for pundits with disparate ideologies. For instance, right-wing pundits like Jordan Peterson found rare agreement with the likes of Bill Maher, who similarly delivered “messages to Muslims” that claimed that the struggles of its adherents came exclusively from within the faith, its scripture, and its sectarian fault lines. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 317 (#complicates, via linked claim)

In this chapter I argue that the right-wing Islamophobes are not a fringe minority but rather part and parcel of the structures of mainstream American society. Like Senator Joseph McCarthy before them, the new McCarthyites play a collective role in ramping up fear and hatred against Muslims, with the full consent of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Just as McCarthy was enabled by a political system that found his antics useful in the prosecution of the Cold War, the new McCarthyites of today are useful in pushing the envelope and advancing the War on Terror. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 34 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Billionaire-backed radical-right networks manipulate politics through clandestine think tanks. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1768; Conspiracy theories inherit the mythic good-versus-evil frame of American religious zealotry. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 55; The Eurabia conspiracy theory about Muslim demographic domination has circulated widely through bestselling authors — Nasar Meer, Racialization and Religion: Race,…, 50 (+23 more)

Broader Connections

• Right-wing Islamophobes are structurally embedded rather than marginal figures #complicates (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 34
• Dismissing Islamophobia as a myth unites right-wing and left-wing pundits #complicates (0.70) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 317
• Right-wing Islamophobia shaped media bias before and independently of state power #complicates (0.70)