Stand back...cool down...get rational...and let's put our concerns about Islam into perspective.
Three significant events recently have raised my concern about the growing fear of Islam in our country – and the resulting unfounded hostility towards American Muslims. And I am a Jew.
First, there were the spurious charges made by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann from my home state of Minnesota, about undue “Islamist dangers within our government”. Next, the horrors of the Sikh shootings by an alleged white supremacist, likely based on what he mistakenly perceived as unwanted Muslims in his community. And recently the rejection by the St. Anthony City Council (a suburb of Minneapolis) when, at the council meeting, some St. Anthony opponents of a planned Muslim Center stated it was not welcomed, and made disparaging remarks about the Muslim faith. At least one resident said Islam is “evil” and embraces violence. Additionally, the continuing false allegation that “Obama is a secret Muslim” is in itself, and by inference, disparaging. Add to this a blizzard of scurrilous (and often misleading) comments about American Muslims floating around the internet, and we seem to have a growing toxic attitude toward a minority of valued American citizens.
First a disclaimer. Are there dangerous elements in Islam? Sure, as there are in many religions wherever there are zealots. Do we need to protect our country from extremists? Of course, and we do in any number of ways. Can we find some Muslims in America whose loyalty might be questioned? Yes, along with those of any other stripe, religion or beliefs. So, this commentary is not naive, just a calm suggestion that we step back a bit, and put the facts into perspective, before we rush to judgment, disparagement, and intolerance.
To start with, less than 1% of our nation’s population is Muslim, yet, we have created a startling xenophobia about the religion. While our image of Muslims centers on bearded, turban-wearing, armed Middle Eastern extremists (as was the recent Wisconsin mistaken Sikh shootings) -- most Muslims do not even live in the Middle East, and virtually all have lives well outside this perceived image. In fact, around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in such countries as Indonesia (the largest Muslim country by population, home to 12.9% of the world's Muslims). Only about 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries. In the Middle East, the non-Arab countries of Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries. Even China has more Muslims than Syria, yet we likely view Chinese Muslims as peace-loving non-threatening people.
The fact is, there are 1.5 Billion adherents to Islam around the world (the second largest religion, and 23% of the world’s population). What is often lost in the understanding of the religion by non-Muslims is that its roots trace back to both the Torah and the Bible (both Testaments). All three Semitic religions ¬ Judaism, Christianity and Islam ¬ trace themselves back to Abraham. The very latest DNA genetic studies indicate a close relationship between Muslim Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews ¬ so close that it is quite difficult to distinguish one from the other. As for Jesus, the Qur’an tells us that Jesus came to teach the same basic message which was taught by previous prophets from God—that we must shun every false god and worship only the one true God. Jesus is described in the Qur’an as a prophet of God, and a "messiah".
Regarding attitudes toward violence, in an August 2011 Gallup Poll, Muslim Americans are the staunchest opponents of military attacks on civilians, compared with members of other major religious groups Gallup has studied in the United States. Seventy-eight percent of Muslim Americans say military attacks on civilians are never justified. Recall that the three most recent horrendous mass killings (Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin) were perpetrated in fact by non-Muslim white men.
In the end, it is clear that all religions have their extremists, radicals, and dangerous elements. Each has had its own brushes with brutality, terrorism, and battles with other religions. The relationship between Christian, Muslim and Jew is closer than one might imagine. The majority of Muslims do not live in the Middle East, and live as peaceably as those who practice other faiths around the world. And most importantly, those Muslims who came to America believed this was a land where they could practice their faith in freedom and without constraint.
That is why it is unfair, unwise, and (I believe) un-American to paint all adherents to any religion with the same brush of disdain and intolerance, as seems to be happening all too often today. And that is precisely why our Founding Fathers, in their wisdom of these facts, made the very first line, in the very First Amendment to the Constitution, a statement that deals directly with this issue:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...