Ultimate Concerns

What is causing contemporary Islamophobia and how should we think about it ethically and politically? This episode features Carl Ernst, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. We discuss his book, Islamophobia in America: The Anatomy of Intolerance. It's available here: https://www.amazon.com/Islamophobia-America-Intolerance-C-Ernst/dp/1137321881. First, we discuss the spread of anti-Islamic propaganda groups over past 15 years. Some of them are tracked and profiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/anti-muslim. Christopher Bail analyzes others in his book, Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream: https://www.amazon.com/Terrified-Anti-Muslim-Fringe-Organizations-Mainstream/dp/069117363X We also explore several other explanations of Islamophobia. We discuss popular, nativist tendencies to blame social and economic problems on those perceived as cultural outsiders. Then we cons