Agreed Islam is an idea not a race.

Bigotry is intersectional. You know damn well what people are trying to say, and what hateful bullshit they're responding to.

When some redcap uses "Muslim" as a synecdoche for spitting out middle-eastern stereotypes, they're not engaging in comparative religious criticism, or making some grand philosophical argument. They're being a racist asshole. Even if the label they use is not a race. If you haven't noticed - racist assholes love tiny excuses to say 'what's so racist about--?!' whatever dehumanizing caricature they just attributed to some associated label. Like "thugs." Or "bankers."

Bankers aren't an ethnicity... but people screaming about "bankers controlling the media" are definitely talking about an ethnicity.

I mean, do you think Islamophobia is rooted in theological disputes? The Christian nationalists who find common ground between Catholics, evangelicals, Eastern Orthodox, and Jews hate Muslims because of their almost indistinguishable tenets of faith?

Discriminating and/or being mean to Muslims is not cool. Thinking their religion is fucking stupid is cool. Same goes for the other religions.

Not all bigotry is racist. I don't think mocking Islam is bigoted, but holy fuck can it be sometimes.

Singling out can be a form of xenophobia, in this case with the religion part simply being an excuse for it. You know, the way dogwhistles work. You don't betray the prejudiced part, you say something which technically you can argue for. Playing innocent saves the day again.

race is an idea too. that's clearly not the issue at play here

When people make something stupid their identity, and I call the stupid thing stupid, and they feel offended, that is not on me.

Thinking Islam is a race is racist.

ahem

Muslims are an oppressed race of people

Other than you assume folks are Muslim because they are brown, yeah, sure, wahtever.

Talking about Islam in a mocking way might not be considered racist, but it can definitely be offensive or disrespectful. Racism is more about discriminating against people based on their race or ethnicity, while religion involves beliefs. Still, making fun of any religion, including Islam, can hurt people's feelings. It's important to be mindful of how our words affect others and to have conversations that are respectful and understanding. While we have the right to debate and express opinions, it's good to approach these talks with empathy and consider how they might impact people emotionally.

Mocking an attribute of a group, rather than the group directly, can still be racist.

If it's only Islam and not other religions it is, if it's all religions it's just anti-theism