Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
I personally do not consider his views as extreme. It is what his culture says about his views where the problems come into play. To some, Westboro Baptist has a very benign message. Those people are majorly ####ed up in my mind, but there are those who consider their message as being non-extreme. There are others who see them as an extreme organization and think they could be trouble, even though Westboro preaches a non-violence message with their flock. Because if the visceral reaction that people have towards their message they are categorized extremists and a threat. The threat is actually a result of the possible actions others may take to counter their protest and claims.
This is the same with other individuals who hold what are considered extreme views compared to the majority of their culture. They get identified a certain way maybe not on their own actions, but as a result of the reaction they may bring about. You can apply this to many people on the alt-right for example. Does this give you a little more insight into the classification?
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I guess my problem with this is the qualifier of "their culture". Nawaz aims to be part of a western secular culture, so is he being judged against that or against the culture of a much more devout religious culture? He's never done the things that are part of the standard playbook of a Westboro Baptist which result in them being considered extreme in our society.
For the most part SPLC is fine, but I agree with Thor that this is silly. Their reasoning is pretty thin. He claims to be a devout muslim but went to a strip club? I mean come on.