|
Gannett News Service – August 13, 2006
Quran burning fuels terror?
By Charles C. Haynes
When Christian activists burned a Quran in Mississippi last month, you could almost hear Osama bin Laden cheering them on.
For years, al-Qaida has spewed propaganda to convince Muslims that America's "war on terrorism" is a thinly disguised "war on Islam." Now Christian Right groups are helping to make al-Qaida's case.
The Mississippi burning of Islam's holy book was part of an anti-abortion rally held by Operation Save America in Pearl. According to their leader, the Rev. Flip Benham, this wasn't the first Quran-burning - and won't be the last.
Islam opposes abortion, but that makes no difference to Christian groups bent on saving America from a list of evils "detestable to the Lord." Along with Supreme Court decisions and the rainbow flag (other things tossed into the fire), the Quran represents what they describe as "an insidious lie perpetrated by Satan himself."
Attacks on Islam from the Christian Right began soon after 9-11 when the Rev. Franklin Graham labeled Islam a "very evil and wicked religion." Soon other evangelical leaders weighed in, using the "war on terrorism" as an opportunity to reignite historic Christian-Muslim tensions. Jerry Falwell described Muhammad as a "terrorist" - remarks that helped spark deadly riots in India. Pat Robertson called Islam "a monumental scam."
More-responsible evangelicals understand the danger of turning the terrorism fight into a new crusade. The National Association of Evangelicals has called for more "temperate speech," arguing that spreading the Gospel doesn't require demonizing other faiths. Polls show most Americans, including most evangelicals, continue to have a generally favorable view of Islam. But the more groups like Operation Save America conflate "Islam" and "terror," the greater the American climate of hostility toward Muslims.
Now some local pastors are translating anti-Islamic rhetoric into action. Recently the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a prominent Florida minister, spoke on radio about Islam as a "dangerous religion." Dozier is organizing fellow pastors to block an Islamic center in their neighborhood because, he says, "we don't want our area to be a breeding ground for terrorists."
Although none of these ministers advocates violence against Muslims, their attacks may encourage more-extreme Christians to assault Muslims and Islamic places of worship.
For American Muslims, America is becoming an increasingly dangerous place. In the last few weeks, a pig head was thrown into a mosque in Maine, a bullet-ridden Quran was deposited in front of a Tennessee mosque and an Islamic center in Ohio was threatened (the same site where a pipe bomb exploded last December). Religious freedom doesn't mean much if you live in fear of practicing your faith.
Christian Right attacks on Islam put the Bush administration in a tough spot. How do you keep repeating "Islam is a religion of peace" when growing numbers of your political base take the opposite view? Yet the danger to the U.S. increases if the "war on terrorism" is seen abroad as a "war on Islam." …..
America's war against Islamist terrorists is not a war on Islam. We must do everything we can to counter the Quran-burning crowd. Only by protecting the religious liberties of American Muslims - and defending their faith against scurrilous attacks - can we make common cause with Muslims throughout the world who feel their religion has been stolen and defamed.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060813/OPINION/608130322/1046
|
