The recent Charlie Hebdo attacks have given the media a fresh opportunity to refer to “Islamic or Muslim terrorists.” While there is no doubt those who attacked Charlie Hebdo were in fact Muslims, that does not justify referring to them as “Islamic or Muslim terrorists.”
Use of “Islamic or Muslim terrorists” reflects the underlying bigotry of the speaker and/or a failure to realize they are repeating the bigotry of others.
If you doubt my take on Islam since I am not a Muslim, consider What everyone gets wrong about Islam and cartoons of Mohammed by Amanda Taub, who talks to Muslims about the Charlie Hebdo event.
If you want to call the attackers of Charlie Hebdo, well, attackers, murderers, etc., all of that is true and isn’t problematic.
Do you use “Christian terrorists” to refer to American service personnel who kill women and children with cruise missiles, drones and bombs? Or perhaps you would prefer “American terrorists,” or “Israeli terrorists,” as news labels?
Using Islamic or Muslim, you aren’t identifying a person’s motivation, you are smearing a historic and honorable religion with the outrages of the few. Whether that is your intention or not.
I’m not advocating politically correct speech. You can wrap yourself in a cocoon of ignorance and intolerance and to speak freely from that position.
But before you are beyond the reach of reasonable speech, let me make a suggestion.
Contact a local mosque and make arrangements to attend outreach events/programs at the mosque. Not just once but go often enough to be a regular participant for several months. You will find Muslims are very much like other people you know. Some you will like and some perhaps not. But it will be as individuals that you like/dislike them, not because of their religion.
As a bonus, in addition to meeting Muslims, you will have an opportunity to learn about Islam first hand.
After such experiences, you will be able to distinguish the acts of a few criminals from a religion that numbers its followers in the millions.