Fatwa envy

{{islam}}
'''Fatwa envy''' is the term used for the phenomenon of non-[[Muslim]] people complaining that criticism of ''their'' (usually authoritarian or theocratic) religious or political beliefs is hypocritical, on the grounds that similar criticism would never be directed at Muslims for fear of violent reprisals<ref group=note>In reality, the Islamic term [[Fatwa]] covers a wide range of [[theology|theological]] pronouncements, and rarely includes [[capital punishment]].</ref> (or, in a related argument, because of [[political correctness]]). This complaint is widely associated with [[Poe's law|Poe]]-like [[Christianity|Christians]], although more secular [[wingnut]]s have been known to employ it as well.

==Nature of the condition==
The rants of [[Fatwa]]-envy-filled posters generally start angry, upset, or frothing at what the target said or did. The screed then turns to how the other religion would not tolerate what was said (almost as if the person ranting wishes they or fellow religious brethren would turn to violence or killing). To complete the rant, the ranter usually prays for or forgives the target, or explains that they will be going to [[hell]] if they do not repent for alleged sins.

Fatwa envy is full of lulz because the ranter does not understand that a loving and forgiving religious person would not imply that they'd like to see violence done to those who disagree with them (at least not without openly criticizing themselves for it), and would (at least try their best to) forgive any supposed wrongs before making veiled half-threats on a blog or forum.

Plenty of "[[New Atheists]]" have indeed criticized Islam just as strongly as [[Christianity]] and [[Judaism]], and have legitimate concern for their lives as a result. Additionally, criticism and "[[blaspheming]]" of most mainstream religions can and does result in death threats — see the [[Paul Zachary Myers|PZ]] link below for an example with [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholicism]]. It ''could'' be argued that the [[Enlightenment]] alone is all that made Christian Europe into something noticeably more "tolerant" than the Islamic world; within the whole of Christian history, it's astonishingly recent for [[heresy]] and [[blasphemy]] to not be capital crimes.

Fatwa envy could be compared to [[Holocaust envy]]. However, while fatwa envy expresses a desire to use force, Holocaust envy expresses a desire to receive compassion.

If you strip this argument to its core, it is nothing more than a [[not as bad as]] fallacy (atheists are ungrateful bastards for criticizing the actions of a particular religion whose followers aren't slaughtering them on a whim) coupled with [[tu quoque]] (atheists' critiques are invalidated if they're deemed hypocritical or inconsistent in applying them) as well as a [[non sequitur]] (not criticizing a certain group, whether it is because they are righteous or dangerous, has nothing to do with the validity of criticism aimed towards a different group).

==Meaning of Fatwa==
In actual real-life Islam, a fatwā is ''any'' official religious opinion regarding [[Islam]]ic [[Sharia]] law issued by a [[Muslim]] scholar, somewhat equivalent to a [[Vatican]] proclamation, but usually with much less "official" authority (as Islam has no central leadership, thus anyone who has studied the Quran and hadith enough can become a "scholar" — [[Osama bin Laden]] included).

Following the [[Salman Rushdie]] affair, however (in which the author of ''The Satanic Verses'' was condemned to death in a fatwā by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini — who had more authority than most, being one of the most revered figures of Twelver Shia Islam), the term has, [[Flying carpet fallacy|in many Western minds]], become synonymous with an Islamic death sentence, though that is in fact a rare use of them. Now you know (and knowing is half the battle).<ref group=note>The other half is red and blue lasers.</ref>

== The fatwa envy jamboree ==
Some nice examples of [[atheists]] criticizing Islam, despite, according to their critics, not having the stomach to criticize Islam. Warning: exposure to this may induce [[cognitive dissonance]]. 

=== Pat Condell ===
{{main|Pat Condell}}

=== [[Richard Dawkins]] ===
* [http://freethoughtnation.com/contributing-writers/63-acharya-s/479-richard-dawkins-islam-is-one-of-the-great-evils-of-the-world.html Dawkins: Islam is 'one of the great evils in the world']{{dead link}}
* YouTube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjpqeZirDqU Richard Dawkins destroys Muslim on morality]{{dead link}}

=== [[Johann Hari]] ===
* [http://richarddawkins.net/articles/2247 "Sharia courts highlight in their purest form the problem with multiculturalism."]{{dead link}}

=== Sam Harris ===
{{main|Sam Harris}}

=== [[Christopher Hitchens]] ===
* YouTube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an7TaDQ5Yo0 Christopher Hitchens on Islam]

=== [[Bill Maher]] ===
* YouTube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ZEo7voCEM Bill Maher asks: Is Islam a religion of peace?]{{dead link}}

=== Phil Mason ===
{{main|Thunderf00t#Of_Muslims_and_South_Park|Thunderf00t}}

=== Paul Zachary Myers ===
{{main|Paul Zachary Myers#Islam|Paul Zachary Myers}}

=== [[Maryam Namazie]] ===
* [http://www.wpiran.org/wb185%20Political%20Islam%20is%20the%20Problem%20on%2077%20london%20attack%20mn.htm "Political Islam is the problem"]

=== Taslima Nasrin ===
{{main|Taslima Nasrin}}

== Examples ==

* former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/10045220/David-Bowies-new-video-juvenile-says-Archbishop.html "I doubt that Bowie would have the courage to use Islamic imagery - I very much doubt it."]
* [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Comedy_Central&curid=46781&diff=591865&oldid=591858 Conservapedia's Comedy Central article], discussing the network's alleged hypocrisy because it did not show an episode of South Park which featured a depiction of [[Muhammad]], even though the show often satirizes other religions.
* [https://archive.is/WDh4u PZ Myers' special "Cracker" edition of "I Get Email"] on his blog ''Pharyngula''.
* [http://bizarrocomics.com/2013/12/27/holy-hate-mail/ Dan Piraro]'s 2013 christmas Bizarro netted him a beautiful example, lovingly shared by "an American Christian": "''Would you be equally quick to offend Muslims with a cartoon strip eluding to a recently departed Muslim complaining of only receiving 35 vestal virgins or showing one of someone asking a blind person if they’d seen any good movies lately? For less, [[Salman Rushdie|Salmon <nowiki>[sic]</nowiki> Rushdie]] received a fatwah for writing Satanic Verses.''" That's the spirit of the season.

== See also ==

*[[Holocaust envy]]
*[[War on Christmas]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

[[Category:Conservapedia]]
[[Category:Fallacious arguments]]
[[Category:Fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]

Categories: Conservapedia, Fallacious arguments, Fundamentalism, Neologisms