“The word ‘Islamophobia’ is a weapon to confuse and silence”, writes Rémi Brague

Yesterday Gallimard released “Sur l’Islam”, the latest volume by the philosopher and medievalist from the Sorbonne. Impossible dialogue with those who dismiss any critical position on Islam “as a form of mental imbalance”

He chose to open the book with a chapter dedicated to “Islamophobia”. “The repeated use of the word ‘Islamophobia’ really has the gift of exasperating me” writes the philosopher and medievalist of the Sorbonne, Rémi Brague, in the book released yesterday in France by Gallimard, “On Islam”. “The word ‘Islamophobia’ makes it possible to confuse everything, while philosophers like to distinguish: to confuse religion with those who profess it, to confuse the dogmatic and juridical system of this religion with the civilization it has marked, indeed dominated, putting in the same bag (all occurrence of garbage) the stupid racism (I dare this pleonasm) towards immigrants and the historical-critical study of the sacred texts on which religion is based, etc”. Not only: “Forbids any dialogue, as a ‘phobia’ is always a form of mental imbalance and no time is wasted arguing with a madman”.