0 comment Sunday, June 15, 2014 | admin
You say 'Muslim' and I say 'Moslem.'
Which is the 'right' term? The Politically Correct lexicon would seem to dictate the former, that is, 'Muslim.' However I choose to stick to the form which has been standard in the West for centuries, as far as I know, and say 'Moslem.'
It's amazing how often people are puzzled by the word, having heard only 'Muslim' (usually pronounced 'moozlem') all their lives.
To my recollection, the only reason 'Moslem' was dropped was under pressure, probably from the 'Black Muslim' movement back in the 60s, because it seems that at this time, with the new prominence of that group, and with the increasing public visibility of Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali, suddenly 'Muslim' was the required term.
This link
Why Do People Say Muslim Now Instead of Moslem?
offers an explanation of the change, and says that
Journalists switched to Muslim from Moslem in recent years under pressure from Islamic groups''
An early example of politically correct speech dictates, just as I thought.
And whatever happened to the old-fashioned term 'Mohammedan'?
My venerable 'Fowler's Modern English Usage', published in 1965, p. 348, laments that the terms 'Mahomet' and 'Mahometan' were giving way to the terms 'Mohammed' and 'Mohammedan,' but not because of political correctness; it had not gained dominance yet in 1965, but the change was dictated by the academics, who thought the terms 'Mohammed' and 'Mohammedan' were more authentic.
The worst of letting the learned gentry bully us out of our traditional Mahometan and Mahomet (who ever heard of Mohammed and the mountain?) is this: no sooner have we tried to be good and learnt to say, or at least write, Mohammed than they are fired with zeal to get us a step or two further on the path of truth, which at present seems likely to end in Muhammad with a dot under the h...''
[...]Muhammad should be left to the pedants, Mohammed to historians and the like, while ordinary mortals should go on saying, and writing in newspapers and novels and poems and such general reader's metter, what their fathers said before them.''
So with that rule as my guide, I will continue to say 'Moslem.' And why not bring back the use of 'Mahometan'? I understand that the Moslems object to the term 'Mohammedan' because it implies they are devotees of Mohammed rather than their god; however, their rioting over 'blasphemous' cartoons of Mohammed (or Mahomet) certainly indicated that they consider him a deity. One can't blaspheme a mere mortal, can one?
And by the way, did you know that 'every person is born a Muslim'? So says this site.
So they consider converting to Islam not as converting but reverting to our 'original' created status as Moslems. (Right.)
So they say Muslim and I say Moslem.
But I will never say 'Islam is a religion of peace.' That is a phrase that our fathers before us certainly never said; they would have been dumbfounded had anyone said that in their day. But such is the Orwellian tenor of our times; people can claim that 'Islam is a religion of peace' or 'Islam means peace' with a completely straight face, (although that phrase is now being increasingly met with derision and mocking laughter; rightfully so.)
I stick to the traditional form. I trust our fathers and grandfathers' judgment more than the confused, PC-ized madness that passes for knowledge in our times.; nevertheless, this is still America, and we do still have the First Amendment, and maybe just out of sheer cussedness I resist all PC strictures on my freedom of expression.
As far as I am concerned, complaints of 'offensiveness' are most often simply an exercise of power, to show who is dominant, and to bring one's enemies to heel.
I don't play along with those games.Let others do so if they feel they have to; my forefathers fought and died so that we might have freedom of expression. My ancestors did not bow to kings and nobles, as free Americans, and I surely won't kowtow to interlopers in my country, or to leftists who abhor all that America stands for.
I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, 'This I have done, and this is what it means to be an American." - Dean Alfange, 1952
Which is the 'right' term? The Politically Correct lexicon would seem to dictate the former, that is, 'Muslim.' However I choose to stick to the form which has been standard in the West for centuries, as far as I know, and say 'Moslem.'
It's amazing how often people are puzzled by the word, having heard only 'Muslim' (usually pronounced 'moozlem') all their lives.
To my recollection, the only reason 'Moslem' was dropped was under pressure, probably from the 'Black Muslim' movement back in the 60s, because it seems that at this time, with the new prominence of that group, and with the increasing public visibility of Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali, suddenly 'Muslim' was the required term.
This link
Why Do People Say Muslim Now Instead of Moslem?
offers an explanation of the change, and says that
Journalists switched to Muslim from Moslem in recent years under pressure from Islamic groups''
An early example of politically correct speech dictates, just as I thought.
And whatever happened to the old-fashioned term 'Mohammedan'?
My venerable 'Fowler's Modern English Usage', published in 1965, p. 348, laments that the terms 'Mahomet' and 'Mahometan' were giving way to the terms 'Mohammed' and 'Mohammedan,' but not because of political correctness; it had not gained dominance yet in 1965, but the change was dictated by the academics, who thought the terms 'Mohammed' and 'Mohammedan' were more authentic.
The worst of letting the learned gentry bully us out of our traditional Mahometan and Mahomet (who ever heard of Mohammed and the mountain?) is this: no sooner have we tried to be good and learnt to say, or at least write, Mohammed than they are fired with zeal to get us a step or two further on the path of truth, which at present seems likely to end in Muhammad with a dot under the h...''
[...]Muhammad should be left to the pedants, Mohammed to historians and the like, while ordinary mortals should go on saying, and writing in newspapers and novels and poems and such general reader's metter, what their fathers said before them.''
So with that rule as my guide, I will continue to say 'Moslem.' And why not bring back the use of 'Mahometan'? I understand that the Moslems object to the term 'Mohammedan' because it implies they are devotees of Mohammed rather than their god; however, their rioting over 'blasphemous' cartoons of Mohammed (or Mahomet) certainly indicated that they consider him a deity. One can't blaspheme a mere mortal, can one?
And by the way, did you know that 'every person is born a Muslim'? So says this site.
So they consider converting to Islam not as converting but reverting to our 'original' created status as Moslems. (Right.)
So they say Muslim and I say Moslem.
But I will never say 'Islam is a religion of peace.' That is a phrase that our fathers before us certainly never said; they would have been dumbfounded had anyone said that in their day. But such is the Orwellian tenor of our times; people can claim that 'Islam is a religion of peace' or 'Islam means peace' with a completely straight face, (although that phrase is now being increasingly met with derision and mocking laughter; rightfully so.)
I stick to the traditional form. I trust our fathers and grandfathers' judgment more than the confused, PC-ized madness that passes for knowledge in our times.; nevertheless, this is still America, and we do still have the First Amendment, and maybe just out of sheer cussedness I resist all PC strictures on my freedom of expression.
As far as I am concerned, complaints of 'offensiveness' are most often simply an exercise of power, to show who is dominant, and to bring one's enemies to heel.
I don't play along with those games.Let others do so if they feel they have to; my forefathers fought and died so that we might have freedom of expression. My ancestors did not bow to kings and nobles, as free Americans, and I surely won't kowtow to interlopers in my country, or to leftists who abhor all that America stands for.
I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, 'This I have done, and this is what it means to be an American." - Dean Alfange, 1952