On May 23, 2:19=A0pm, Ramabriga <Ramabr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Underlying prejudices against Muslims
> Daily Herald Editorial Board
> Published: 5/22/2008 12:12 AM
>
> In the days immediately following the horrific 9/11 attack on the United
=
States almost seven
> years ago, President Bush showed true statesman****p in many ways.
>
> Even those of us who sharply disagree with his war policy in Iraq can
agr=
ee with that if we
> stop to remember. He inspired, he reassured, he rallied the
international=
community.
>
> Significantly, in those first days, he also called on our better angels.
=
He went out of his way
> to caution Americans not to judge Muslims by the acts of extremists.
>
> In a major address that September, Bush emphasized the point: "The
terror=
ists practice a fringe
> form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and
t=
he vast majority of
> Muslim clerics, a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings
of=
Islam."
>
> He called Muslim teachings "good and peaceful" and said, "The enemy of
Am=
erica is not our many
> Muslim friends."
>
> That message was repeated often in many ways in those dark days, a great
=
credit to our leaders
> and, frankly, to our society. No one wanted a repeat of the shameful
Japa=
nese internment camps
> of World War II.
>
> But in the years since, the message has faded. Our leaders don't repeat
i=
t, and the language of
> our national discourse tends to undermine it. The distinction between
Mus=
lims and Islamist
> fanatics gets lost.
>
> The degree of open prejudice is frightening.
>
> Web sites and the radical right at times are almost hysterical in the
con=
spiracy theories they
> concoct around the presidential race and specifically around Barack
Obama=
..
>
> But it isn't just the bigotry of the fringe groups that is disturbing.
It=
's also the way
> prejudicial assumptions have slipped into the mainstream.
>
> Alarmists fantasize that Obama is a Muslim, and in discussing the
outland=
ish rumor, we all
> refer to it more or less as a charge: Obama denied the charge that he is
=
a Muslim.
>
> That choice of words suggests there would be something wrong with it if
h=
e was.
>
> And that's the real problem. Good people are failing to recognize and
cor=
rect their own prejudices.
>
> Even Obama falls short on this. Asked about the rumors, he merely denies
=
them: "I'm not and
> never have been of the Muslim faith." That denial, spoken that way,
reaff=
irms the prejudice.
>
> We concede that yes, in America in 2008, being identified as a Muslim is
=
a political handicap,
> and so there's only so much we can expect from Obama, who is after all a
=
politician.
>
> But he is someone who wants to lead us and who professes an interest in
b=
ringing us all
> together. It is not too much to ask that he add a few words to his
denial=
:
>
> "But keep in mind, being a Muslim is not something anyone should need to
=
hide. Muslims are our
> neighbors. They are people who live in our communities, too, and we need
=
to fight prejudice of
> all kinds."
>
> http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=3D195288&src=3D
> ** Posted fromhttp://www.teranews.com**
Whatever you think, Whatever you Believe In There is No Harm In
Searching For The Truth And Studying Islam.
|
