Teen Vogue is once again pushing a liberal agenda and this time the magazine’s journalists are targeting a march against Sharia and extremism. The men and women at the June 10 protest claimed they were challenging the hateful acts condoned by Sharia law. But Teen Vogue’s June 11 headline spun, "What the March Against Sharia Protests Teach Us About Countering Hateful Speech.”
Writers Asma Uddin and Firdaus Arastu lectured the protesters who showed up in 25 cities as uneducated, arguing for the need to counter “bad” speech with “good” speech. At first, the writers seemed to allow for the need of such protests. But then, Teen Vogue indirectly slams free speech. Uddin and Arastu wrote:
What are proper ways of countering hateful speech? Tackling instances of hateful speech as a free speech issue often misses the point - and allows for groups like ACT to vindicate themselves as champions of free speech. Instead, we have to consider the role of speech in our collective social responsibility. While speech from ACT founder Gabriel and ACT may be permissible or protected, it need not and should not be socially welcomed. We need to formulate social solutions to speech that aims to divide.
This quote, in accordance with the rest of Teen Vogue's article, encourages the snubbing of free speech simply because there are people who disagree with it. Without even giving full credit to the true intention of the march, Teen Vogue calls its message hate speech, and is thus able to guilt society into socially quieting their concerns...because they certainly can't legally do so.
ACT is fighting against those specific parts of Sharia Law that go directly against the democratic vision of human rights (honor killing, female genital mutilation, etc.) They are NOT looking to dismantle the Islamic faith. This is explicitly stated. And yet, the media's main representation of the march has all focused on its "hateful" cause and combating hate speech.
Hate speech is not the issue here. If anything, many of those who marched against Sharia, fight for free speech…the human right to worship as one pleases…in peace, safety, and harmony.
Later, Uddin and Arastu again lectured the readers of the magazine:
On the question of sharia — the topic of Saturday’s marches — there is wide space for people to learn more about what sharia is. For many Americans, it sounds scary — we hear tales of a system where hands are chopped off and adulterers are stoned. But this is not the sharia of America. Sharia is a set of legal rules that deal with a range of issues from the minutia of washing hands and feet to purify oneself before prayer to inheritance rules. It’s also about spirituality.
Teen Vogue is no longer about style and fashion. It seems as though the magazine and website exist to push liberal talking points.
