Islam as Suspect Class
By: Samarth Bhaskar
Tags: New Atheism, Islam, Liberalism

Islam as Suspect Class

Giving Islam special treatment

I didn’t go to law school, so my use of suspect classification may be improper here, but the answer to Jay’s question “Why do we treat Islam differently from other religions?” lies in this legal concept. Briefly described, suspect classification is “any classification of groups meeting a series of criteria suggesting they are likely the subject of discrimination.” Although in courts this doctrine is about applying close scrutiny to government action that affects a group, in society we’ve sort of adapted this approach for other uses. The reason we treat Islam and Muslims differently from Christianity and Christians is because they are treated differently in society. I don’t think Islam is coddled but I do think, using the same approach the Supreme Court applies to jurisprudence, some members of society are more deferential to Islam than other religions because Muslims have a history of being discriminated against in our society.

In fact, one could argue that I am among these people. After 9/11, I became fascinated by American foreign relations. The story of that decade (the same time as I was going through high school and becoming more politically aware) was our military entanglements in the Muslim world. I went to college and committed myself to studying International Relations, which included learning Arabic and studying Islam. To me, it was imperative to understand Islam, the Middle East, Arabic and the history of the region with whom we, the West, seemed to be in perpetual conflict. This was not out of some pious commitment to Islam on its own accord but because I saw the way it was portrayed and discussed in the American media and by my friends and neighbors and it left me wanting. What I got through my education in college, reading widely, and living and studying in the region for 7 months was a deeper understanding of the religion, culture, language, history and people.

My anecdotal history with studying Islam does not mean every one in the West needs to approach it in this way. But I do think treating it with respect and allowing some preferential treatment is useful to balance the scales of how Islam has been treated in the West historically.

Not giving cupcake makers and pizza restaurants special treatment

Alternatively, the reason we don’t treat cupcake makers who refuse service to same-sex couples special treatment is because they don’t have a history of discrimination on which to make their case. Although their grievance is also based on religious preference, there is no history of systematic discrimination against Christians in this country for which they deserve preferential treatment. Or any rebalancing of scales. Furthermore, their claim violates another group’s civil rights (same sex couples, who happen to also have some claim to suspect classification), unlike a Muslim limo driver refusing to carry alcohol.

I agree with you, and it seems the NYTimes Ethicist did too, that when “civil liberties conflict with civil rights, reasonable people can disagree about where to draw the line.” However, these lines must be drawn with acknowledgement of the larger context of the history of a religion in a place, minority status, power and political dynamics and the specific circumstances of an interaction.

The liberalism of the West that we cherish includes compromise and being ecumenical as a value. Creating a society that allows for a plurality of views and lifestyles, and balancing that against hurting other people, is a difficult but worthy project.

I have my own objections to various Islamic practices, like the one’s Jay quoted Dawkins describing. But I would like to imagine that my role as a critic (if I were ever in a position to play one) would be received differently from Dawkins. For one, I’m not a member and founder of the New Atheist movement, which is in many ways as dogmatic about the perils and dangers of religion as religious groups about the benefits of religiosity. And given my study of and engagement with Islam, my criticisms may land on more open ears. It’s not hard to imagine why Muslims aren’t open to criticism about how illiberal their religion is from people who have spent a lot of time maligning, attacking and lambasting their religion. If the goal is to liberalize Islam, starting from a place of understanding and respecting Islam seems to me a wise choice.

The added difficulty, and a question for which I don’t have an answer, is when do we know the balancing of the scales has been accomplished? And when we can revoke the preferential treatment afforded to a Suspect Class. Giving a group perpetual access to preferential treatment is not a good idea, either. I think this will be a challenge for us to figure out as a society with regard to all manner of questions from Affirmative Action, to same sex rights, transgender rights, race relations, and much more.

Islam in Europe

Jay also referenced the idea that there is an Islam entirely compatible with Western liberalism but that we’re not there yet. However, majority Muslim nations like Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Turkey are not readily accused of being illiberal (or if they are, it’s not because of the role of Islam). I will never defend conservative or orthodox practices that ISIS or even the Saudi government condone but I have a hard time understanding why Islam (arguable the world’s largest religion) gets painted with the broad brush of illiberalism, more so than other other orthodox or conservative sects in religions like Judaism and Christianity.

Additionally, the integration or lack of integration of Muslim refugees and migrants into Western Europe in the last few decades is not necessarily tied to Islam. The causes of urban riots in France, for example, are complex but include discrimination, police violence, and ghettoization. Radicalization, in similar contexts, like Denmark, is also related to alienation, lack of job prospects and discrimination. And tactics that show signs of working, address exactly these issues. I have no reason to believe that it is Islam or Islam’s alleged illiberalism that is resulting in these young men and women not being integrated successfully into European society. Europe has a long history of integrating immigrants into its societies (sometimes with more success than others). The difficulties of the last few decades may have more to do with economic or employment disparity than religious or cultural differences.

If we do what Jay suggests, ask Muslims to change some of their beliefs or practices, to better integrate into Western society, and change nothing about the host country’s behavior in terms of social, educational, economic integration, I’m not convinced the friction wouldn’t continue. Islam doesn’t need coddling, as you say, but the West must also not be immune from criticism of its approach to Islam or integration of Muslims.