Anti-Muslim Hysteria Will Not Make A Better World

 On September 11, 2001 I was as shocked as anyone to watch the towers of the World Trade Center fall. And I felt just as much anger as anyone towards those who were responsible. But that's just the thing: towards those who WERE responsible, not those who were not but just happened to belong to the same religion. It never made the slightest bit of sense to me to form an irrational hatred of all Muslims because of 9/11 than it would to hate all black people or Mexicans if I happened to be mugged by one or more members of that group. So I've been very disappointed, to say the least, to see the level of anti-Muslim hatred that began immediately after 9/11 and has continued to grow to the present day, currently exemplified by the Florida pastor who plans to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday, September 11 and the angry tone of public protest about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque".

Let's not forget, people, that there has never in the history of this planet been a single religion that has NOT had its core teachings and values twisted and perverted by power-hungry individuals who want to take advantage of sincere believers' faiths. I myself am a Christian, and can certainly not deny the many times that my own faith has had horrible things happen in its name: the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem witch trials. Even today, there continue to be skin-heads and racial hate groups who claim to be operating under Christian principles. And yet none of us ever has any problem recognizing that these groups do not represent what Christianity is really about. But many of us seem to have an insurmountable problem making the logical conclusion that "Hey, maybe the same is true of Islam!" No, every single member of Islam has to be evil and demonic and they all want to destroy the Christian world. I suppose it's possible that this is an example of the typical fear of what we don't know: we KNOW Christianity, but many of us don't know Islam. Well, there is a way to fix that problem.

The church I am a member of... Lyndale United Church of Christ in Minneapolis... has for several years participated in the "Taking Heart" partnership with members and Mosques of the Islamic faith in the Twin Cities. I have met a number of of Muslims through this program and even participated in several ceremonial Ramadan events. The Muslims I have known have consistently been among the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever met. They serve as an example and a role model to people of all faiths, including Christianity, of how to use your faith to make a difference in helping the poor and downtrodden of the world. And they definitely do not harbor an inner hatred toward the west or a wish to destroy it. But many in the west continue to be too much like the guy in last week's story in "The Onion", "Local Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About Muslims".

Much of the anti-Muslim hatred is based on passages exerpted from the Quran that point believers in the direction of Holy War. Yes, those passages are there, for sure. But what you never hear any of these people quoting are the other passages that tell us that for anyone who is responsible for the death of even one single innocent individual it is the same as if they were responsible for the murder of the entire human race and they will be punished accordingly. Or other passages that urge believers to fight against those who fight against them, but then add "But never attack first. God does not love an agressor". (Incidentally, if you're wondering how I know about what's in the Quran: I happen to own a copy and have read it. There's another way of educating yourself regarding what Islam really is about.) Let's not forget that the Bible is also filled with many bloody passages  in which the armies of the "Good Guys" are urged to invade a land and slaughter every man, woman and child they find, leaving none left alive. We Christians have the good sense to realize this does not mean we should live by that philosophy today and and invade and slaughter other countries (well, most of us do, anyhow). And yet, again, we are unwilling or unable to make that same leap of logic regarding Islam.

Instead, we see things like the completely untrue internet rumors about Barack Obama being Muslim. Completely aside from the fact that these rumors are totally unfounded and easily disproved, my first reaction was "So what if he were? It's not a crime! At least, not yet!". (And besides, Keith Ellison, the congressman who represents my district, is Muslim, and I've rarely known a more decent and principled man in all of politics, and I'm proud to have him representing me.) Or we see a group of Christians act like Nazis with the burning of the Holy Book of another faith. Or we see people continually up in arms about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque", never mentioning or caring that it's not located at Ground Zero (it's several blocks away), and is not actually a Mosque but a community center that includes, in addition to a room for worship, a swimming pool, various other facilities and A MEMORIAL FOR THE VICTIMS OF 9/11! Does that sound like disrespect for the dead to you?

It's a natural tendency, I suppose for people to desperately want the world to be simple and comprehensible: this group is always bad, this group is always good, if this one thing happens this other thing will always result. But that simply isn't how the world is. There are bad, downright evil people in EVERY community and group, yes, including Muslims... and there are also good, decent, understanding people in all of those same groups. It's far past time that we stop concentrating on the things that divide us and start thinking about the ways in which we are the same. We might not have the same faith as Muslims, but we are still all looking to make the world a better place and help others along the way. I say that if another group whose ideas are not the same as yours is still out to accomplish many of the same things that you are as far improving the world, then the similarities are what's important and we should operate on the basic principle of "Love One Another" and work together to achieve those goals, whether those other groups are members of Islam, some other faith, or whether they have no faith at all (including agnostics and atheists). If we do the former (concentrating on the differences that divide us) not only will we not make the world a better place, but there may not be much of a world left before long. If, however, we concentrate on the latter... there's no limit to what we could accomplish. It's up to us. Which way are you going to go?