Linda Sarsour’s Muslim Identity Politics Epitomize Feminism’s Hypocrisy
Women's March organizer Linda Sarsour has repeatedly defended Sharia law. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the law, there's a lot of unpleasant things going on with it (stoning, beheading, etc). Not to mention the worth of one woman being half of a man, limit of religious freedom,etc.
Not surprisingly Leftists have rushed to defend her, which highlights the movements deep ties and sympathies towards Islamism. There is no real push for true liberal ideals anymore, simply the fight between two forms of fascism.
This leaves us with just one question: Is a strong Right Wing cultural backlash necessary to preserve the ideals of Western civilization? Or should the West just give up?
The link contains stuff that basically amounts to anti-feminist ranting rather than a reasonable argument. I wouldn't count on it to make a good case for conservatism or against liberalism.
That said, I did read the pro-Shari'a tweets when I googled Linda Sarsour to find out who she was, and I have a few main thoughts on her involvement in the Women's March and endorsement of her by the left:
• As far as I can see, she's not being endorsed for her views on Shari'a; she's being endorsed because she helped organize an initiative calling for women's rights, freedom, and equality. Regardless of what she herself believes regarding Shari'a, there were hundreds of thousands marching in favor of women's rights. So she was basically just another demonstrator at that point.
Further, I imagined if someone like, say, Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris came up with an initiative I agreed with. Those two men have said things that a lot of people would find absolutely insane, and for good reason, in my opinion. But were the initiative beneficial, I'd still support it, and I'd still commend whoever organized it on the positive effort. I would also hope religious people, despite disagreeing with Dawkins and Harris, would support the positive initiative. If we
entirely reject people and their ideas—even when there's solid common ground—based on some problematic aspects of their views, we're going to miss out on opportunities for understanding and channeling coordinated efforts toward positive causes, such as women's rights.
• When someone says that they support Shari'a, that doesn't necessarily mean they support stoning, beheading, etc., in the way fundamentalists tend to. Shari'a is Islamic law, which includes praying and fasting, for example. A lot of people say they support Shari'a, but what that means is that they support their view of it. I know some people who are against lashing for premarital sex even though they say they support Shari'a, and lashing is prescribed in the Qur'an itself. So it's not a black-and-white statement when someone states support for Shari'a.
I've wondered how someone can be a feminist while supporting Islamic law, which in most scholarly interpretations is conspicuously patriarchal. What I've come to believe so far is that people who believe in equality make efforts to reconcile their belief in equality with their belief in Islamic law. I have a feminist friend who says that the Qur'an only allows men to beat women "lightly" and that it's only an absolute last resort when all other measures have failed. Obviously, I disagree with her that hitting is acceptable, "lightly" or not, but I can also see from her stances on the vast majority of issues that she's indeed someone who supports feminism and its ideals. Like I said, it's not a black-and-white issue, and having some problematic beliefs doesn't have to mean rejecting a person and their ideas altogether.
So, I definitely think Linda Sarsour's efforts that helped organize the Women's March are commendable and admirable, whereas her views on Shari'a are questionable and should be subject to criticism. One hit, one miss. In this case, however, the hit is absolutely crucial, so I certainly think reasonable people should support her for her recent efforts without letting disagreement cloud their judgment when evaluating her participation in the Women's March and organization thereof.
