Muslims, Marriage and Bigotry
Column Originally published February 12, 2015
Kristof starts this column by introducing two seemingly separate ideas: the shooting of three unarmed Muslims at UNC and Alabama's rejection of gay marriage. He then ties the two concepts together by highlighting the importance of "resisting bigotry, of combating the intolerance that can infect people of any faith — or of no faith." The central argument of this piece is that religious people should not insult other religious groups without first examining the hypocrisy and problems within their own tradition. Kristof backs up this claim by citing Matthew 7:25 where Jesus said “First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Kristof provides numerous rhetorical questions in this column which greatly add to the argument by making the reader stop and think about their views on the subject. The argument is solid for the most part; however, some of Kristof's statements are left as concepts without examples as how they exist in the real world. His argument could have been strengthened by more real-life examples.
Kristof starts this column by introducing two seemingly separate ideas: the shooting of three unarmed Muslims at UNC and Alabama's rejection of gay marriage. He then ties the two concepts together by highlighting the importance of "resisting bigotry, of combating the intolerance that can infect people of any faith — or of no faith." The central argument of this piece is that religious people should not insult other religious groups without first examining the hypocrisy and problems within their own tradition. Kristof backs up this claim by citing Matthew 7:25 where Jesus said “First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Kristof provides numerous rhetorical questions in this column which greatly add to the argument by making the reader stop and think about their views on the subject. The argument is solid for the most part; however, some of Kristof's statements are left as concepts without examples as how they exist in the real world. His argument could have been strengthened by more real-life examples.