Glad You Could Join Us
This week, we respond to a horrific attack in San Diego and revisit a distinction central to our work: criticism of ideas must never become hostility toward people.
But first, some housekeeping: we need to issue a clarification of last week’s Unbelief Brief, which discussed secularism laws in Quebec. In that newsletter, we noted that a pair of controversial laws, Bill 21 and Bill 94, prohibit individuals in many public roles, including schoolteachers and daycare workers, from wearing religious symbols on the job. Reader Daniel Gagnon helpfully pointed out that the laws include grandfather clauses, meaning that a hijabi woman who was already teaching at the time of the laws’ passage does not have to choose between her hijab and her job. That context was missing from our piece last week, so thanks to Daniel for bringing it to our attention.
Lastly—we’re revealing the winners of our 3rd Annual Draw Muhammad Day Contest this week, so stick around for that!
Unbelief Brief
A monstrous attack on the San Diego Islamic Center has left three dead. EXMNA absolutely condemns this barbaric act, and we have published a full statement here.
The distinction between strong criticism of religious doctrines and hatred of individuals is one we have spent 13 years emphasizing. What unfolded in San Diego was fundamentally in opposition to our vision of a free and peaceful society. Our motto has long been that we look forward to a future where all are free to follow their conscience; this of course includes people like us—skeptics, atheists, agnostics—but it also, by definition, must include peaceful practitioners of Islam or any religion. We honor the memory of the dead—Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha, and Nader Awad—who acted to save others’ lives at the expense of their own.
Since the publication of our original statement, more details have emerged about the shooters’ motivations. San Diego police previously reported that an apparent suicide note from one of the attackers suggested hateful motivations. We now know, according to the Associated Press, that this encompassed “hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and both the political left and right.” The attack appeared to be inspired by the vile 2019 Christchurch shooting, as both suspects live-streamed their actions in a similar way. Both of the apparent perpetrators, each in their late teens, are now dead of self-inflicted wounds.
As we said in our statement, the age of the attackers is a uniquely disturbing aspect of this case. Young men seeking meaning in violence is rarely a sign of civilizational health. When ISIS grew, it did so because of the passion of the youths who joined. We may not be on the cusp of an “American ISIS” appearing, but mass shootings perpetrated by young American men have unfortunately been a semi-regular occurrence over the last 30 years. Likewise, the internet has made it easier not only to build isolated information silos but for the people in those silos to connect and coordinate, something which appears to have been relevant here, as the shooters met online.
None of this is to downplay anti-Muslim bigotry or excuse the abominable actions of the shooters, but instead to understand how and why something so horrible could happen. It is vital that American society not slip closer to the abyss of normalizing casual violence. In particular, this means resisting the impulse to downplay violence against “other” political or social tribes. That is the road to a state more closely resembling modern-day Pakistan, where vigilante murderers of blasphemy suspects come to enjoy celebrity status. We must do everything we can to prevent a similar nightmare from becoming reality here. This means remaining as committed as ever to our fundamental ideals of an open society, including criticism of ideas, acceptance of differences among us, and uncompromising rejection of violence in all its forms. One mob seeks to censor all criticism of Islam as “Islamophobia,” while another seeks to purge Muslims from society and public life. Both roads lead to hell (figuratively). The survival of our free society depends on the recognition of that fact.
EXMNA Updates
Drumroll please..!
We are pleased to announce the winners of our 3rd Annual Draw Muhammad Day Contest!
Our Honorable Mention goes to James for his piece self titled, “The Diaper Sniper”.
Third Place has been awarded to Lou!
Our Second Place winner is Musawwir for his piece “Who is Allah??” inspired by the Scooby Do mask reveal meme.
And the First Place Winner of this year’s Draw Muhammad Day Contest is Raya with their piece “Muhammad and His Wives”. It is based on Sahih al-Bukhari 268:
Anas bin Malik said, "The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number." I asked Anas, "Had the Prophet the strength for it?" Anas replied, "We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men)." And Sa`id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven).
Until next week,
The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America
P.S. We’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback at [email protected].