Language is a powerful tool and language creates realities. That is the reason why how we talk about events and things is critical.
The terror attack in Nice that killed three people last week left France increasingly unsettled and once again, the phrase Islamist extremism or Islamist terror was used.
While all religions without doubt have also a violent past, human mankind has moved forward and recognized that religion per definition can’t be violent, but must be a peace enhancing force for good. And this should reflect also in the way we talk about such brutal violence which the perpetrator tries to put into a religious context. We simply should not allow for this any more.
Killing innocent people is simply terrorism – and we should not grace any such act with an association to any religion. We should not allow in our vocabulary to link ideology with faith. Our news headlines should not indicate that murderers and terrorists are allowed to justify their violence with religious terms; we should reject any attempt to create a space where others could have a sense that violence can in any circumstances be connected to religion.
Terror is terror, terrorism is terrorism and ideology or political madness should in our language have no bearing on religion. Not allowing this association is an important tool to diminish such awful acts and to make it clear that in our times, religion and violence never ever go together again. Period.
Language is an underestimated tool in the fight against terror and violent ideology.
Filed under: General, Politics and Society, Reflection, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, faith, Islam, Nice, religion, terrorism, terrorist attack
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