Another reason to use “Daesh” or “ISIL” rather than “ISIS”

In a recent post I passed on a recommendation to prefer the name “Daesh” to others for the self-styled “Islamic state” (which is neither). Another good reason can be found in a November 27 article (link) in The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia:

Illawarra mother Heather Taylor is becoming accustomed to the odd looks, gasps and uncomfortable silences that accompany the mention of her daughter’s name. Now she has suffered perhaps the ultimate indignity – being denied a personalised jar of Nutella.

Ms Taylor’s sister tried to buy five personalised jars – which are labelled with the recipient’s name – for her nephew Odhinn and her niece Isis from a Myer department store in Shellharbour.

Ms Taylor said both names were initially flagged as problematic by a computer. After some negotiation, Odhinn was deemed acceptable – but the store manager drew the line at Isis, an acronym commonly used to denote Islamic State.

Ms Taylor, 43, named her five-year-old daughter after the Egyptian goddess Isis, revered as a matriarch and friend of the disadvantaged. Her son Odhinn, 8, was named after a god in Nordic mythology.

“This is an acronym that is used incorrectly by the media that Nutella are supporting,” Ms Taylor said. “We need to be calling the Daesh death cult by their name, Daesh.”

A related point: I’ve actually heard some people (televangelist Pat Robertson for one) complain that Daesh/ISIL isn’t being called “Islamic” often enough, and that this avoidance is an example of “political correctness.” That is unmitigated drivel. Daesh desperately to be taken seriously as the “Islamic state” and a legitimate representative of Islam. Calling them what they want to be called amounts to giving respect and aid and comfort to them. They deserve nothing but contempt. For just one reason why, see this post from January about 3,500 women being kept in slavery and regularly raped.



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