One of these things is not like the other: the Al-Qaeda terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the moderate Muslims who want to build a community center in Manhattan. Conflating the two isn’t just bigoted— it’s dangerous.
As tensions escalate between supporters and opponents of the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque a wave of anti-Muslim harassment and violence has broken out across the country. A group of teenagers hurled obscenities and insults at a group of Muslims peacefully observing Ramadan, according to The New York Times. Recently, a suspected arson destroyed the proposed site of a mosque in Tennessee. Frightened Muslims also reported multiple gunshots.
Certainly most opponents of the proposed Cordoba Initiative are peaceful citizens. But irresponsible rhetoric can translate into a ruthless reality. Harassment or violence is a natural— and almost understandable— reaction for the people who honestly believe that moderate American Muslims are akin to the radical terrorists who killed more than 3000 people on 9/11.
Distinguishing between moderate and radical Muslims is important.
Opposition to the Cordoba Initiative relies on the dangerous equivocation between moderate and radical Islam. If there were no connection there would be no offense. Presumably the construction of a Dunkin’ Donuts or Eastern Orthodox Church near Ground Zero would not be seen as a “slap on the face” to the victims of 9/11 and their families.
In the eyes of some conservative commentators anti-Muslim sentiment is not bias but a reflection of reality. A 2009 Pew Research poll shows that 38 percent of Americans believe Islam encourages more violence than other religions. If Islam is inherently violent and intolerant as the argument goes then even moderate Muslims have no right to equal treatment.
But Matthew 7:1 warns “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” If evaluated solely on its most despicable passages and adherents Christianity would also fare quite poorly. The medieval chronicle “Gesta Danorum brags about the Christian” conquest during the Crusades saying “the slaughter [in Jerusalem] was so great that our men waded in blood up to their ankles.”
In Uganda today Member of Parliament David Bahati is pushing for an anti-homosexuality bill that would assign the death penalty for homosexuality. From Bahati’s perspective Ugandans must engage in “spiritual battle” and “kill every last gay person” in the country.
These two examples do not demonstrate that Christianity is an inherently violent and intolerant religion. These and countless other perversions of the Christian faith only prove the obvious— that this world is full of evil people. But spoons did not make Michael Moore fat and we cannot automatically blame a religion for atrocities committed by its adherents.
In a diverse country we cannot afford to make intolerant assumptions about individuals from other faith traditions. An estimated 2 to 7 million Muslims live in the United States. Most are moderates who save their money to paint their kitchens and send their children to college— not to buy fertilizer and blow up prominent buildings. To be anAmerican and a Muslim is not an oxymoron or at least it shouldn’t be.
If we can learn anything from France it is that individuals should not be forced to choose between their religious and national identities. France’s recently proposed burqa ban is just one chapter in the ongoing alienation of French Muslims that in an unfortunate manner is succeeding.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that millions of “French Muslims” no longer consider themselves French and are self-segregating from mainstream French society. Many Muslim children won’t draw right angles which look too much like Christian crosses and some schools even have separate restrooms for “Muslims” and “Frenchmen.” In 2005 violent riots led by youth from segregated Muslim ghettos paralyzed the country for a month and burned 1000 vehicles.
Ironically the idea that Islam is intolerant and violent may make intolerance and violence a recurring theme in the American political landscape. Americans should embrace the Cordoba Initiative because persecuting moderate Muslims does not honor the dead— it merely jeopardizes the future of our country.