Challenging Islamophobia
Re: Palin’s Mosque Mess (July 27, 2010)
Dear Editors,
Thank you for your stand on Islamophobia.
According to remarks made last month by Newt Gingrich, a US Republican and former House of Representatives Speaker, the construction of the 13 story building mosque two blocks away from the former site of the World Trade Center is a symbol of ‘Muslim triumphalism’ and the equivalent of “putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust museum.”
To specifically target and slander a racial or religious group is abhorrent for any sensible individual, let alone high profile politicians such as Mr. Gingrich and Mrs. Palin.
Islamophobia, the othering and irrational fear of Islamic culture, religion and values, remains rampant nine years after the September 11 attacks, and it’s on the rise. To have one’s 1300 year history and culture equated with a Nazi symbol is certainly not the most welcoming phenomenon one can partake in.
It also provokes the systemic biases and antagonism that is evolving in European and North American communities.
The most underlying premise of antagonism to Islam and Muslims in the Western world is an arbitrary sense of ‘inherent violence and backwardness’ amongst Middle-Easterners.
When asked to elaborate, Muslims are ‘fine.’ It is Islam and the Quran that seem to be source of the problem. Such remarks usually emanate from the same individuals who could not name even one Muslim poet, philosopher, or scientist.
While I am no longer an avid believer of the Shia Islamic faith, the vast cultural and historical significance of Islam still matters to me.
For me, Islam is not a simple book written over a thousand years ago; it is the evolution of thousands of different nations and peoples, including mine, over the centuries. It is what the ‘West’ is to white Canada.
To be told that my culture is inherently violent and backwards, to stumble upon placards stating that mosques are ‘monuments to terrorism’ or to be told that a mosque in downtown Manhattan is a stab in the heart for 9/11 victims is as offending and oppressive as I can imagine.
I do not see why I, or millions of Muslims across Europe and North America, have to live a life of abashment and apology for an action and ideology that we did not partake in or believe in.
To do so would be the equivalent of asking Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin to apologize for slavery, or the violent colonization of the Americas by Europeans, or the Christian Crusades that wrecked civil society in Islam. If 9/11 had such a profound impact on the Western psyche, imagine what over a hundred years of sustained invasion did to Muslim society.
The next time someone talks about the inherent violence of Islamic culture, suggest picking up a book by Hafez or checking out Shahin Najafi’s latest hip hop album release. Please, challenge Islamophobia.
-Amir Nosrat, MSc ’10
True Christians are peacemakers
Dear Editors,
I am writing as a Christian to publicly voice my disagreement with the plan of Pastor Terry Jones and his congregation to burn Qur’ans on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” Although I do not dispute the genuineness of their intent to be followers of Jesus, he and his congregants are not following Jesus’ instruction to be a peacemaker if they carry out their plan.
It is true that Jesus said some very incendiary things. He also said many things that made it clear that following him was of the utmost importance.
There is a real temptation to caricature Jesus as a teddy bear by overlooking these difficult dimensions of his message, or to distort him into an figure one finds palatable or useful.
There is a real danger, however, in overlooking the method Jesus used in presenting his message. Jesus practiced what he preached, he himself was a peacemaker.
In the Gospel accounts, one does not find Jesus assuming political power in order to communicate his message, nor do I think Jesus does anything analogous to burning Qur’ans.
His incendiary comments were always directed to those who shared the same religious tradition as him, and his stern pronouncements were never accompanied by “calling down fire from heaven.”
I hope Pastor Jones and his congregation will refrain from carrying out their plan. As my fellows who are also striving to follow in the way of Jesus, I hope they will follow Jesus in this way of peacemaking.
– Phil Shadd, Ph.D ’13
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