Ashley Gipson, Religion News Service, 9/25/08
As published in USA Today
WASHINGTON — Anti-Muslim discrimination reached an all-time high in 2007, according to a report released Wednesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The District of Columbia and just nine other states account for 80% of the civil rights complaints. California leads with one in five complaints, followed by Washington, D.C., and Illinois. The prime factors for discrimination are an individual's ethnicity, religion or "Muslim name," according the report.
The report said incidents of due-process issues, physical violence, denials of service or access, and verbal harassment decreased last year, but passenger profiling reports increased by 340%. Claims of workplace discrimination increased by 18%, the report said.
The council recently got involved in a case of religious accommodation for workers at JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plants, and has produced a pamphlet entitled "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices" for distribution.
Corey Saylor, CAIR's national legislative director and author of the report, said the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes — defined as any crime against property or person where the victim is selected because of a perceived faith — decreased in 2007.
"We are cautiously optimistic," said Saylor. "We hope the wave of anti-Muslim hate crimes we've seen through the years is starting to level off."
Given the results of this year's report, Saylor recommended asking elected officials and other public officials to condemn anti-Muslim bias.
"When authority figures are sending positive messages about Islam," he said, "we find that people are less inclined to go out and commit anti-Muslim discrimination."
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Bush on Islam
"During Ramadan, we are reminded of Islam's long and distinguished history. Throughout the centuries, the Islamic world has been home to great centers of learning and culture. Muslim thinkers and scientists have advanced the frontiers of human knowledge. People of all faiths have benefited from the achievements of Muslims in fields from philosophy and poetry to mathematics and medicine."
-President George Bush, speaking at the 2008 White House Iftaar Dinner, 9/17/2008
-President George Bush, speaking at the 2008 White House Iftaar Dinner, 9/17/2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Mourning Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Statement on the Passing of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, leader of the largest Muslim
Movement in America (Chicago, IL, 9/09/08)
[Saylor note: Distributed by a member of Imam Mohammed's family who is also a friend of mine.]
The leader of the largest constituent of Muslims in America, Imam W. Deen Mohammed, son of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad leader of the Nation of Islam, passed away today, he would turn 75 in October.
In 1975 he succeeded his father, leader of the Nation of Islam opening the movement to all races. He was a public servant who stood up against racial oppression, and worked continuously for peace, unity, and reconciliation. He maintained his father's legacy of economic and political empowerment for the Muslim community.
His passing today was confirmed in a statement released by the late leader's family, "Imam W. Deen Mohammed a follower of Prophet Muhammad - on him be peace- and Muslim leader passed away today at his home in Markham, IL. He trusted and he believed in the One G-d the Creator of all systems of Knowledge. We ask that you pray for our father and leader." - The Family of Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Movement in America (Chicago, IL, 9/09/08)
[Saylor note: Distributed by a member of Imam Mohammed's family who is also a friend of mine.]
The leader of the largest constituent of Muslims in America, Imam W. Deen Mohammed, son of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad leader of the Nation of Islam, passed away today, he would turn 75 in October.
In 1975 he succeeded his father, leader of the Nation of Islam opening the movement to all races. He was a public servant who stood up against racial oppression, and worked continuously for peace, unity, and reconciliation. He maintained his father's legacy of economic and political empowerment for the Muslim community.
His passing today was confirmed in a statement released by the late leader's family, "Imam W. Deen Mohammed a follower of Prophet Muhammad - on him be peace- and Muslim leader passed away today at his home in Markham, IL. He trusted and he believed in the One G-d the Creator of all systems of Knowledge. We ask that you pray for our father and leader." - The Family of Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Friday, September 5, 2008
AFP: US mega-mosques: Muslim tradition with US convenience
WASHINGTON (AFP, 9/04/2008) — As Islam makes inroads in the United States, American Muslims are setting up mega-mosques that combine religious tradition with typical American convenience.
Modelled on the huge, non-Catholic churches that offer their congregations of at least 2,000 members several different sites for worship, US mega-mosques have become a necessity in some places.
"Frequently, we have buildings designed for the Friday prayer, which is the largest, for 1,000 people and you have 2,000 to 3,000 show up," said Corey Saylor of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
To accommodate the overflow, which also results in traffic jams when prayer is over, US Muslim congregations have set up satellite places of worship, again following the lead of the Christian mega-churches.
That is just one way in which US mega-mosques are decidedly American.
They also offer worshippers a progressive form of Islam, in line with the profile and desires of many Muslim Americans.
While more than two-thirds of Muslim Americans are immigrants, mainly from the Middle East, they are also "decidedly mainstream in their outlook, values and attitudes," a report published last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life said.
They have embraced what is often called the Protestant work ethic and believe, as do many Americans, that hard work pays off.
And Muslim Americans reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than do Muslim minorities in western European countries, the Pew report said.
One mega-mosque in Virginia even rents space from a synagogue.
"This mosque, this branch, is part of a synagogue. Where have you seen that, a synagogue and a mosque? It's a completely American experience," Muslim prayer leader Mohamed Magid said.
That "completely American experience" is particularly attractive to young Muslim Americans, who like the way religious traditions and US efficiency and convenience are married in their places of worship.
In a message to Muslims around the world on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, US President George W. Bush singled out for praise "the men and women of the Muslim community for their contributions to America."
"Your love of family, and gratitude to God have strengthened the moral fabric of our country," Bush said.
"Our nation is stronger and more hopeful because of the generosity, talents, and compassion of our Muslim citizens," he said.
During Ramadan, which in the United States started on September 1, according to calculations by the Islamic Society of North America, observant Muslims eat a light pre-dawn meal and fast until sunset, a practice aimed at fostering self-discipline, sacrifice and empathy for the poor.
Mosques tend to be heavily frequented during Ramadan, with some remaining open 24 hours a day.
Modelled on the huge, non-Catholic churches that offer their congregations of at least 2,000 members several different sites for worship, US mega-mosques have become a necessity in some places.
"Frequently, we have buildings designed for the Friday prayer, which is the largest, for 1,000 people and you have 2,000 to 3,000 show up," said Corey Saylor of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
To accommodate the overflow, which also results in traffic jams when prayer is over, US Muslim congregations have set up satellite places of worship, again following the lead of the Christian mega-churches.
That is just one way in which US mega-mosques are decidedly American.
They also offer worshippers a progressive form of Islam, in line with the profile and desires of many Muslim Americans.
While more than two-thirds of Muslim Americans are immigrants, mainly from the Middle East, they are also "decidedly mainstream in their outlook, values and attitudes," a report published last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life said.
They have embraced what is often called the Protestant work ethic and believe, as do many Americans, that hard work pays off.
And Muslim Americans reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than do Muslim minorities in western European countries, the Pew report said.
One mega-mosque in Virginia even rents space from a synagogue.
"This mosque, this branch, is part of a synagogue. Where have you seen that, a synagogue and a mosque? It's a completely American experience," Muslim prayer leader Mohamed Magid said.
That "completely American experience" is particularly attractive to young Muslim Americans, who like the way religious traditions and US efficiency and convenience are married in their places of worship.
In a message to Muslims around the world on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, US President George W. Bush singled out for praise "the men and women of the Muslim community for their contributions to America."
"Your love of family, and gratitude to God have strengthened the moral fabric of our country," Bush said.
"Our nation is stronger and more hopeful because of the generosity, talents, and compassion of our Muslim citizens," he said.
During Ramadan, which in the United States started on September 1, according to calculations by the Islamic Society of North America, observant Muslims eat a light pre-dawn meal and fast until sunset, a practice aimed at fostering self-discipline, sacrifice and empathy for the poor.
Mosques tend to be heavily frequented during Ramadan, with some remaining open 24 hours a day.
Stupid is as Stupid Believes Hysterical Internet Rumor
["Stupid is as Stupid Does" is yet another anti-Muslim e-mail circulating the internet. It pushes a vision of sterotyping, profiling and Obama is a Muslim. You can find it with you nearest search engine. Normally, I disregard such message, but this was was forwarded to me, with concern, by a family member so I felt obligated to write a response.]
The kind of casual stereotyping in the “Stupid Is As Stupid Does” is troubling at best, bigoted at worst.
If I were to base even an iota of my vote on “Stupid Is As Stupid Does” then maybe I should report to the nearest government office and insist that they revoke the privilege due to my intellectual apathy, indifference and undernourishment. (See why Thomas Jefferson agrees with me below.)
Basic American values reject profiling. In America, the idea of profiling people based on race, religion or ethnicity got thrown out when the clause “…three fifths of all other Persons." (a reference to slaves) was sliced from the U.S. Constitution in 1865.
If our basic values and the Constitution are not enough for you, the Department of Justice, President Bush and former Attorney General John Ashcroft also reject profiling.
Unfortunately, it is easy to assemble a list of violent radicals from almost any background.
Not one of us would conclude that Americans are somehow more inclined to violence and terrorism than others because of the relatively recent acts of the following individuals:
*Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City, 1995)
*Terry Nichols (Oklahoma City, 1995)
*Eric Rudolf (Olympic Park bomber, Atlanta 1996, grew up in the Christian Identity movement)
*Ted Kaczynski (The Unabomber)
*Sean Gillespie (convicted in 2005 for firebombing an Oklahoma synagogue)
*Buford Furrow “went on a shooting rampage at a Jewish day-care center in Southern California.” (Washington Post, 6/05/2005)
The post-9/11 anthrax case that recently garnered a new flurry of media coverage does not point to a Muslim. We all, regrettably, know the name of the town of Columbine. The rape camps where primarily Bosnian Muslim women--at least 20,000 of them-- were violated in the early 1990’s were crafted by Serbians.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in its “Terrorism 2002-2005” report concludes, “Eight of the 14 recorded terrorist preventions stemmed from right-wing extremism, and included disruptions to plotting by individuals involved with the militia, white supremacist, constitutionalist and tax protestor, and anti-abortion movements.”
Voting for or against any candidate for public office must be a matter of objective study of character, positions and experience.
As Thomas Jefferson wrote, "A democratic society depends upon an informed and educated citizenry."
“Stupid is as Stupid Does” fails the “informed and educated” test, rather it fits Jefferson’s more dire concern: "The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
