Originally Posted: 12/26/10
"I don't care what
you say, if you're a Muslim, you are suspicious." - A family member
To say the least, this statement is no surprise in post-9/11
America. People have only just begun to learn things about other religions and,
unfortunately, it has been in a bad way. More people than I can count have told
me that all Islamic people hate Christians and are part of a violent faith. The
problem with such statements is that they are completely false. Any one who has
taken a World Religions class would know this. My experience in such a class
was very informative. I've never been one to judge other religions and I find
them incredibly fascinating to learn about. In the past 9 (almost 10) years
since 9/11, the people of the United States have created this (not-so) new
creation of 'us' and 'them.' 'Us' to most being White, Protestant/Christian,
born in the United States citizens. 'Them' being, well, everyone else. The
quote at the top of the page is something that I heard at Thanksgiving dinner
this year. An adult in my family said this and a few others commented in
agreement. I held my tongue to be respectful, but I did try to say something in
defense, though as a young adult I was shot down as not knowing what I was
talking about.
In New York, there was a large uproar over an alleged "mosque" near
the Ground Zero. Truthfully, everything was blown out of proportion and all the
rumors were false. The mere fact that such a project could illicit such a
horrid reaction from people is disappointing. Politicians even joined into the
debate and made right fools of themselves. The truth of the matter is that it
was not a mosque to begin with. It was in fact to be Muslim Community Center,
which included a prayer room, but no true mosque. That is not the problem though, what if it had been a mosque? What difference does that make? The
United States has the fastest growing Muslim population in the world. The Islamic
faith is also one of the most peaceful religions in the world. The Christian
faiths claim that they are so much more peaceful than Muslims, but the
Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and several other violent acts can be
attributed to Christian faiths. More recently, groups like the Army of God and
the Ku Klux Klan have used Christian tenants as justification for violent acts
against people they believe to be enemies to the Church, whatever church it may
be.
What I find so interesting is that people cannot seem to
remember the First Amendment. Freedom of Religion is one of the most important
parts of our Bill of Rights and is the reason many of our ancestors immigrated
here. The United States is a Melting Pot for a reason and if we stop acknowledging
that fact what will we come to? I know many people will argue that the Founders
wrote the Constitution with Christian values in mind and that the Untied States
was meant to be a Christian nation. In my opinion, the Constitution was written
to endure and for the interpretation to grow with the country. Our country now
harbors people of every religion and with that our Constitution protects all of
them as American citizens.
The real problem is that people do not seek out information
about things outside their lives. People could be so
much more understanding if they took the time and educated themselves in the
very least the basics of other religions. Truthfully, it seems more thorough
education about anything would save people and the world a lot of grief.
Unfortunately, too many people do not take education as seriously as they
should and more often then not people will make comments and talk about things
they really do not have too much knowledge about. It'll only continue this way
until people acknowledge they might be wrong and that their preconceptions
could be entirely misinformed.
What people need to learn
is that one act by a small group can not be representative of the entire group.
I would not say Christianity is a violent faith with my opinion based solely on
the actions of the Army of God, a group accredited with several bombings and
killings in the US. The same can be said for Islam in the case of 9/11. Every
religion will have its extremists and often their form of the religion is an
interpretation that is quite opposite of the central, majority belief. I hope
that people will begin to learn this lesson or there might be more than
extremist religious groups that we have to worry about in the future.
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