Fatwa envy

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'''Fatwa envy''' is the term used for [[Poe's law|Poe]]-like behavior of wingnut [[Christianity|Christians]] online. These people generally complain that criticism of their religion or themselves is wrong because the criticism would never be directed at [[Muslims]] for fear of violence or death.
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'''Fatwa envy''' is the term used for [[Poe's law|Poe]]-like behavior of [[wingnut]] [[Christianity|Christians]] online. These people generally complain that criticism of their religion or themselves is wrong because the criticism would never be directed at [[Muslims]] for fear of violence or death.
  
 
The rants of Fatwa-envy-filled posters generally start angry, upset or frothing at what the person said or did. The screed then turns to how the other religion would not tolerate what was said (almost as if the person ranting wishing he/she or fellow religious brethren would turn to violence or killing). And to complete the rant, the person usually prays for or forgives the person, or explains that he or she will be going to hell if he or she does not repent for alleged sins.
 
The rants of Fatwa-envy-filled posters generally start angry, upset or frothing at what the person said or did. The screed then turns to how the other religion would not tolerate what was said (almost as if the person ranting wishing he/she or fellow religious brethren would turn to violence or killing). And to complete the rant, the person usually prays for or forgives the person, or explains that he or she will be going to hell if he or she does not repent for alleged sins.

Revision as of 22:01, 3 March 2010

Fatwa envy is the term used for Poe-like behavior of wingnut Christians online. These people generally complain that criticism of their religion or themselves is wrong because the criticism would never be directed at Muslims for fear of violence or death.

The rants of Fatwa-envy-filled posters generally start angry, upset or frothing at what the person said or did. The screed then turns to how the other religion would not tolerate what was said (almost as if the person ranting wishing he/she or fellow religious brethren would turn to violence or killing). And to complete the rant, the person usually prays for or forgives the person, or explains that he or she will be going to hell if he or she does 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 rant in the first place, and forgive and forget any supposed wrongs before sending off an email or posting a reply to 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 PZ link below for an example with Catholicism. (It could be argued that the Enlightenment alone is all that made Christian Europe into something noticeably more "tolerant" than the Islamic world; in the whole of human history, witch burnings and the like are astonishingly recent.)

In Islam, a fatwā is any official religious opinion regarding Islamic Law issued by a Muslim scholar, somewhat equivalent to a Vatican proclamation. Following the Salmon Rushdie affair, however (in which the author of The Satanic Verses was condemned to death in a fatwā) the term has, 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].

Examples

See also

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