Over the weekend I watched the ABC program “This Week” moderated by Christaine Amanpour. It was a Town Hall debate titled “Holy War Should Americans Fear Muslims”. I found it very upsetting and it left me with the feeling that we are instilling fear into the minds of our children.
One of the panel, Donna Marsh, who lost a daughter in the 9/11 attack said, “Americans should not live in fear of a whole group of people.” Peter Gadiel, who lost a son in the attack said, “To ignore the history of Muslim terror attacks would be unwise.”
The most biased quote in my mind was by Rev. Franklin Graham who said, “They want to build as many mosques and cultural centers as they possibly can so they can convert as many Americans as they can to Islam.” He has a problem with the principles of their religion. He also feels it is unfair that Christians can not build churches and temples on their land, but Muslims can build mosques on ours. I would think, being a pastor, he would know one of the freedoms we have in America is freedom of religion.
The quote that made my day was, “Using the word they to describe a group of people is the definition of bigotry.”
Not all Muslims are terrorists nor do all Christians live lives that follow the teachings of Jesus. There are moderates and extremists in both groups. The one thing that they have in common is that they are all human beings and came from the same Source.
Teaching our children to fear is not new, but it needs to stop. I remember when I was in school we were taught to fear Russian attacks. Instead of fire drills we were instructed to crawl under our desks and hide from anticipated bomb attacks. We grew up fearing people who are different and have passed that fear on to our children and grandchildren.
How about we just try for peace in the world and forget about fearing each other? As the song says, Why Can’t We Be Friends?
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Amen! I wish I had been there, because this line is totally untrue: "unfair that Christians can not build churches and temples on their land, but Muslims can build mosques on ours." That pastor is mistaken. Muslim cultures are some of the earliest that allowed a variety of religions to co-exist. In a theocracy no less! (I always want to type theocrazy. ha!)
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to focus on the best of one thing while comparing it to the worst of another. We are all just shades of the same human condition. So bizarre that we continue to insist on creating false divides.
Thank you very much for your comments. I was unaware of that fact.
ReplyDeleteI had a very negative opinion of Rev. Graham and wonder what he must be passing on to his congregation.