I have often struggled with the terminology I use to describe violent aggressors who self-identify as Muslims. Islamo-fascist is a stupid term, because fascism has a very specific socio-economic definition, and the conservatives who throw it around fit that definition much closer. Jihadist never worked for me because jihad has a legitimate place in Islam and granting them that label legitimizes their struggle to some extent. Fundamentalist never worked for me because righteous people should adhere to their fundamentals. Radical never worked for me, because radical, like radish means to the root, and activists should strike the root. Even Extremist stopped working for me when I heard the quote Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. which belongs to Karl Hess, not Ronald Reagan as many conservatives allege. ISIS solved this problem for me. The term Ive been looking for is State. I can think of no better term for violent aggressors than Statists and I condemn and reject so-called Islamic Statism just as vehemently and clamorously as Democratic Statism, Republican Statism, Communist Statism, or Capitalist Statism. The one ambition common among all terrorist organizations is that they aim to seize the means of political power, and the one privilege common among all political organizations is that they claim a monopoly on legitimate terrorism.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 22:27:02 +0000
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