WASHINGTON, Oct.
17 (UPI) -- American ideals embrace the notion of freedom of religion. Our
realities can be somewhat different. A recent article distributed by UPI
("Mosques -- Smiling dens of iniquity?" by James Zumwalt) shows that
the willingness to promote crass religious stereotypes remains a serious issue.
Anti-Semitism has
long been a stain on our national dignity. A U.S. Army manual written for World
War I recruits alleged that Jews were more likely to "malinger" than
others. Signs could be found around the nation proudly announcing "No
dogs. No Jews." Henry Ford, of automotive fame, authored "The
International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem."
Anti-Catholic
sentiment also has a lengthy history. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book
"Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era", James McPherson reports
on suspicion of Catholic immigrants in the 1800s saying: "Most of these
new Americans worshipped in Roman Catholic churches. Their growing presence
filled some Protestant Americans with alarm. Numerous nativist organizations
sprang up as the first line of resistance in what became a long and painful
retreat toward acceptance of cultural pluralism."
Thus it comes as
no surprise that 37 groups dedicated to spreading anti-Islam prejudice in the United
States enjoyed access to at least $119,662,719 in total revenue between 2008
and 2011, according to "Legislating Fear," a new report by the
Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR's report
says that Islamophobia in the United States has resulted in a certain
willingness to undermine the U.S. Constitution.
Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution prohibits any "religious test" for public office.
However, in 2010 Time reported that "twenty-eight percent of voters do not
believe Muslims should be eligible to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court" and
that "nearly one-third of the country thinks adherents of Islam should be
barred from running for president."
Herman Cain, at
one point the front-runner for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, manifested
a version of this sentiment when he said that to serve in his administration he
would require loyalty oaths from Muslims.
In 2010 Oklahoma
voters approved SQ 755, a state constitutional amendment banning judges in that
state from considering Islamic religious principles in their rulings. In
practice this would have prohibited a judge from probating an Islamic will. In
the voting booth, Oklahomans were told that Islamic religious principles are
"based on two principal sources, the Koran and the teaching of
Mohammed."
The First
Amendment clearly prohibits any such government interference in the free
exercise of a religion. For this reason a CAIR staff person in Oklahoma
challenged the law in court. In 2013 a federal judge struck the amendment down
as unconstitutional.
Oklahoma's bill
wasn't unique. In 2011 and 2012, 78 bills or amendments designed to vilify
Islamic religious practices were introduced in the legislatures of 29 states
and the U.S. Congress. Seventy-three of the bills were introduced solely by
Republicans.
Anti-Islam bills
are now law in seven states.
There are other
indicators that Islamophobia is a societal issue in America.
In September
2011, the Public Religion Research Institute noted, "Forty-seven percent
of Americans agree that Islam is at odds with American values, and 48 percent
disagree." PRRI later reported that the number of Americans who say
Muslims are working to subvert the Constitution rose from 23 percent in
February 2012 to 30 percent in September 2012.
While these facts
are disconcerting, they are nothing new. Just a Jews, Catholics and others
stood up to prejudice, so, too, are Muslims. In fact, Muslims benefit from the
lessons these other faith traditions learned in their struggles against prejudice.
America's Muslims
also recognize that while the lens of prejudice may be on us today, it will
eventually turn elsewhere. We want to make sure our struggle is a benefit to
this next group and our nation as a whole.
Our nation has historically evolved for the better. The shame of the three-fifths compromise, by which southern and northern states agreed to count slaves as partial human beings for the purposes of the distribution of taxes and representation in Congress, was removed from the Constitution. Equally, the 15th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are inspiring reminders that our nation evolves. It took until 1920, 144 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, to pass a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote, but we got there.
For this reason
people of conscience must continually remind themselves that the specters of
bigotry, discrimination and second-class citizenship are omnipresent.
