PM Harper’s ‘dangerous’ comments on Muslims show lack of understanding on culture, says Taylor

Hard to disagree with Charles Taylor’s assessment:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s comments on the niqab are “very dangerous” and could lead to stigmatization and even radicalization, one of Canada’s most renowned political thinkers said Saturday.

Speaking to a packed room at the Broadbent Institute’s Progress Summit in Ottawa Saturday morning, McGill University philosopher Charles Taylor said the prime minister’s comments on the niqab as coming from an anti-feminist culture conflates Muslim dress with the threat of terrorism and jihadism, which stigmatizes the entire Muslim population and creates a rupture in Canadian society.

“This kind of stigmatization is exactly what we have to avoid,” Prof. Taylor told reporters following his address.

The Prime Minister has been “tone deaf” in his comments about Muslims, he said, which demonstrates a lack of understanding of the culture he’s discussing, though he also said electoral considerations likely figure in the approach.

“Ask yourself what are the recruiters of Islamic State saying? They’re saying, ‘Look, they despise you. They think that you’re foreign, you’re dangerous, you’re not accepted here so why don’t you come to them?’” he told reporters.

“The more you make it sound like that, the more you’re helping them. It’s strange that people don’t see that.”

PM Harper’s ‘dangerous’ comments on Muslims show lack of understanding on culture, says Taylor | hilltimes.com.