My Take: It’s time for Islamophobic evangelicals to choose (Projectile Vomit Alert!)

CNN.com ^ | 15 September 2012 | Brian D. McLaren

[Pollster1]

Arachnophobia: an irrational fear of spiders. I have met people with this condition, and it’s sad how something so absurd can derail their lives. Arachnophobia has nothing to do with a sensible aversion to events such as a black widow spider crawling on their skin, and everything to do with being unable to use the toilet without checking each corner of the ceiling and under the sink to see if there is a bathroom spider hiding in the room.

Homophobia: an irrational fear of homosexuals. I consulted for a man who had spent five years in prison. While he had a strong aversion to the predatory practices in prisons and to the rapists who act in that manner, there was nothing irrational about his fear. Similarly, many (perhaps most) normal people react with disgust to the sight of gay men displaying more public affection than normal people display in public. This is also not an irrational rear, just healthy revulsion at unnatural behavior.

Islamophobia: an irrational fear of Muslims. Having seen the video of the WTC, of the Pentagon attack, of the London Underground attack, of the Spanish train attacks, of the ambassador who was raped and then murdered as thugs celebrated, of the embassy attacks this year and in so many previous years, of the hundreds of children murdered as the primary target of the Beslan massacre in Russia, and of more acts of pure evil than I can list, I find it hard to imagine how anyone could characterize a fear of Islam as irrational. Having seen innumerable videos of huge Islamic crowds celebrating these atrocities, I wonder what the defenders of Islam are even thinking. Having met many Muslims who characterize themselves as moderate, without meeting even one who could condemn these acts of evil without pairing that pro-forma criticism with an even stronger condemnation of those who in some obscure manner provoked the attacks, I have to conclude that “Islamophobia” would have to reach an extreme level, beyond any real phobia I have witnessed, before it qualified as irrational.