Fighting Rage with Fear: The “Faces of Muhammad” and the Limits of Secular Rationality

Journal Title: Religions - Year 2018, Vol 9, Issue 3

Abstract

In recent years, a number of incidents have pitted Islam against secularism and liberal democracy. This essay examines the Danish publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons in order to examine the deployment of rationality as a litmus test for political membership. It argues that Western media and political analysis of the protests surrounding the cartoons constructed Muslims as anti-rational and thus unfit for democratic citizenship. Such a deployment of rationality inhibits the possibility of and demands for political pluralism. The essay then looks to two disparate theorists of affective reason, Abdulkarim Soroush and William Connolly, to offer an alternative model of reason that encourages pluralist political engagement.

Authors and Affiliations

Shirin S. Deylami

Keywords

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  • EP ID EP25957
  • DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9030089
  • Views 342
  • Downloads 22

How To Cite

Shirin S. Deylami (2018). Fighting Rage with Fear: The “Faces of Muhammad” and the Limits of Secular Rationality. Religions, 9(3), -. https://europub.co.uk./articles/-A-25957