[Vision2020] Some Choose Hate during Islam's Holiest Month

[nickgier at roadrunner.com]

Dear Visionaries:

Below is my radio commentary and column for the Idaho State Journal.  Thanks to Andreas for clarifying the role of Imam Rauf, chosen by a conservative GOP administration to heal the wounds with the Muslim world.

The full version is attached. Read my other columns on Islam at www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/IslamPage.htm

May we continue to honor the First Amendment,

Nick

SOME CHOOSE HATE DURING ISLAM’S HOLIEST MONTH

Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies' hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else.

--New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

As 1.6 billion Muslims world-wide begin their fasts during the holy month of Ramadan, thousands of Americans have joined a campaign of hate and intolerance against them.  It is as if Muslims had chosen the most despicable actions of a few Christians and attempted to paint all Christians by the same brush. To America’s already distressed Muslims this would be equivalent to an anti-Christian crusade just before Christmas.

There have been fire-bombings of mosques in Tennessee and Florida (could these be Christian terrorists?) and a call for burning the Qu’ran by some conservative Christians. Now the focus is on the proposed Muslim cultural center two blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood in Lower Manhattan.

Four blocks from Ground Zero Muslims have been quietly worshipping for 40 years, just months before the World Trade Center opened. Located between two bars, the storefront mosque is a progressive Sufi congregation led by a woman. Unlike more orthodox groups, men and women pray together, and during Ramadan, they also celebrate the end of their dawn-to-dusk fast. Are these peaceful people now suppose to relocate out of “respect” for the 9/11 victims, 56 of whom were Muslims themselves?

Twelve blocks from the former World Trade Center there is another mosque founded in 1985.  It is led by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who holds physics degrees from Columbia and Stevens Institute of Technology. 

After getting permission from city authorities, Imam Rauf and his partners are now moving forward to build a 13-storey glass and steel building that will have no minarets. Contrary to what some critics say, the structure, hidden by two blocks of high rise buildings, will not be visible from Ground Zero.

Critics say that Imam Rauf supports Islamic jihadists because he said that U.S. foreign policy was partly responsible for the 9/11 attacks. But this is also the view of Ron Paul, who won the presidential poll at the most recent meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.  

In announcing the decision not to preserve the old building at 51 Park Place, Mayor Michael Bloomsberg--with the Statue of Liberty as backdrop--reminded his audience that the early Dutch settlers refused to grant Jews permission to build a synagogue, and that they had also prohibited Quakers and Catholics from holding services.

After wisely consulting with some religious scholars, President George W. Bush was able to speak with uncharacteristic eloquence about Islam as a “religion of peace.” Bush drew an essential distinction between the Islam followed by at least 90 percent of Muslims and the version embraced by Al Qaeda.  

Bush’s Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes also invited American Muslims to be part of an outreach program to the Islamic world.  One of those chosen was Imam Rauf, who was sent on speaking tours in the Middle East. His main task was to demonstrate how well America treated its Muslims--at least until now.

Following a tradition set by Thomas Jefferson, President Obama recently held a Ramadan dinner at the White House. Stressing the American values of religious freedom and tolerance, Obama said that “Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country.”  

Some on the Religious Right claim that American Muslims wish to impose shariah law on the U.S. There is of course no evidence for such a plan.  There are, however, tens of thousands of American Christians who want to impose the Old Testament equivalent of shariah law. 

A writer for Moscow’s Christ Church has called for capital punishment for “sorcery, adultery, homosexuality, and cursing one's parents.” For a woman touching a strange man’s genitals, her punishment is only the loss of one hand. Why do these extremists enjoy constitutional protections and are allowed to build their churches after being cleared by local authorities, but moderate American Muslims are vilified and threatened?  

As devout Muslims all over world celebrate Ramadan giving alms and reflecting on their sins, I challenge those on the right, especially those such as Newt Gingrich who ought to know better, to repent and stop the disinformation campaign that is destroying the very fabric of our great republic. 

Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. 

	
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