In a front page diary by
SusanG today there is a long discussion of Mr. Bush's reference to "Islamic fascists" and the American Muslims' negative reaction to the term. I agree that "fascism" in its strict historical definition isn't applicable. But what should we call them? Is there a short one or two word term for such folks that won't be misinterpreted as a slur against all Muslims? Of course, we could always inquire about what word
they use in English to refer to violent Islamic religious fanatics, but I think in the meantime that it would be useful to explore available memes for framing the issues of religiously motivated violence.
Let's try some possibilities with their counterparts in the anti-abortion, white racist, and militia movements:
* Christian terrorists
* Christian lunatics
* Christian fascists
* Christian fundamentalists
* Christian theocrats
The last two terms perhaps come the closest to being both accurate and neutral but (a) most Americans don't know what "theocrat" means, (b) only a minority of theocrats (or fundamentalists) are violent, and (c) those who do know what "theocrat" means will protest that not all Christians (or Muslims or Jews) are theocrats so it's unfair to pair the name of their religion with this term.
At this point we run into the core problem that it is not politically correct to ever criticise a (mainstream) religious community for any reason, even if the negative behavior you are concerned with can be shown as characteristic of a significant minority of members of that religion. Of course, many of the same people who cheerfully criticise other faiths react with outrage when their own religion is the subject of criticism.
Historically, Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam have all shifted their collective use of language depending upon their political and social fortunes. When in a minority (or absolute majority) status, these monotheistic faiths use language that emphasizes the peaceful and compassionate parts of their scriptures and beliefs. When in a non-absolute majority status--that is, when being theologically challenged by other faiths from within or without--at least some members of these religious traditions emphasize the violent and warlike parts of their scriptures.
Perhaps the solution is to call those willing to kill in the name of their religion by their historical battle terms: Crusaders and Jihadists. Both those terms also have "harmless" metaphorical applications, but the violent connotations are certainly historically plentiful.