Semantic Discussion

[moe.ron]

Ok, everytime I watch CNN, they love using the world Islamist. I know they mean Extremist. So in that case, why don't they used Christianist to describe those that bomb abortion clinics or Christian extremist (Read Lord's Army), like using Islamist to describe Muslim extrismists.

Something to think about.

[RACooper]

Well..... what is the demographic of the audience that they are catering to? It's all relative, as CNN is one of the more even-handed and professional of the US news networks (unlike FOX).

But yes they should strive for some truth in labeling, instead of using terms that label people or groups into preconcieved "us and them" groups. (Sorry term used in my media analysis course this last summer for the Ontario government).

[Kevin]

They're both terrorists.

I think that a Muslimist is simply one who practices Islam, yes? There's nothing untruthful about the vast majority of these accounts in the Middle East.

I think they refer to Christians as fundamentalist extremists or something to that nature.

[swissmiss04]

Muslimist and Islamist are two entirely made up words. The proper term for someone who practices the religion called Islam is "Muslim".