Diagnosing and Treating Islamophobia

Does anyone else remember the good old days of childhood when our myriad of fears was considered ridiculous and funny? The fact that many of us believed in monsters lurking beneath our beds waiting for the opportune time to eat us is amusing. And children all around the world still fear that if they stir up too much trouble and act out of line, Santa is going to say to them, "Oh, you wanted an iPhone 4 for Christmas? Ho Ho NO!  You're getting coal you big baby!" If neither of these things stirred uneasiness within you, then you might have had, and still have, a unique fear. I fall under this category, for I have arachibutyrophobia, which is the fear of having peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth. Now this is mainly because I am allergic to peanut butter, but that is beside the point. The point is that we have grown up and these nonsensical phobias are now behind us. However, as we have grown throughout the years, our idea of fear has evolved as well. What we now consider scary is far from laughable. War, terrorism, and politics fill us with trepidation on a daily basis. One of these evolved fears that has swept the nation over the last decade is islamophobia, and its severity and complexity have grown to the point where it impedes mankind's progress more than ever.

This image is an artistic rendering of what the

proposed Park51 will look like in its completed form.

So in case you have been living under a really heavy rock like Patrick the starfish for the last couple of months, allow me to bring you up to speed. In the beginning of last August, New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commision gave SoHo Properties the necessary thumbs up to begin construction of Park51, which, according to Park51's website, is an Islamic Community Center designed to act as, "a nonsectarian community, cultural and interfaith spiritual center along with a Muslim prayer area and a monument to honor all those we lost on 9/11." Specifically, the community center will feature prayer space for Muslims, programs based on culture, education, and recreation that are designed to advocate universal tolerance, a culinary school, a library, and much more. While this project seems like an ambitious and rewarding goal, families of 9/11 victims, the American Center for Law & Justice, and concerned citizens in general have shown opposition towards the community center. The reason being is that Park51 is to be located two blocks away from Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center once stood prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. These activist groups feel that it would be disrespectful to build an institution associated with Islam so close to the hallowed grounds of the twin towers. While the unenthused side claims that Park51's proposed location dishonors the graves and memories of 9/11 victims, those who support the project are using our constitutional right of freedom of religion as their main base of reason, stating that citizens are free to practice their religion freely in a place of their choosing. 


Although I understand and respect the standpoints of opposers to the project, I am inclined to encourage its completion, even if it is constructed near Ground Zero. The assailants of Park51 are under the impression that if this community center were to be built in lower Manhattan as planned, it would signify a victory for Muslim radicals who despise the United States and its principles. What they do not realize is that Park51 is not intended to represent the beliefs of terrorists and extremists in any way. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the spiritual leader of the project, has made an effort to reassure the public that Park51, "sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11" and that he and his development team, "want to push back against the extremists." 


So there you have it. Everyone associated with Park51 is just as disgusted with the philosophies of terrorists as any of us. In fact, my guess is that Muslim Americans and moderate Muslims are more appalled than we are considering that the actions of these heartless extremists have painted Islam in such a negative light, which brings us to the conflict at hand. Many confused and misunderstood persons all around the world still believe that anyone who prays towards Mecca should automatically be deemed the enemy, and the situation only worsens by the day. Just last Saturday on the anniversary of 9/11, 14 people were killed (13 civilians and 1 police officer) during a series of violent riots in the Himalayan valley of Kashmir. These unnecessary deaths resulted from a threat to burn Islam's divine literature, the Qur'an, which brings us to our next example of how Islamophobia plagues our society.


Last week, Florida pastor Terry Jones announced his plans to burn copies of the Qur'an on the anniversary of 9/11. He and his small congregation felt that, "... a radical message is necessary" and prepared to publicly incinerate around 200 copies of the holy book. Besides recent events, Jones claims that much of his motivation to stage such a horrific display came from God. Although Jones eventually backed out of the burning, several protests and riots erupted over the course of last week, bringing harm to many.

This photograph was taken outside of the U.S. Embassy in
Jarkata, Indonesia. Pictured is a group of Muslims protesting
Terry Jones' previous plans to burn the Qur'an.

Basically, Jones mistakingly thought that the best way to counter Muslim extremists was to fight fire with fire. Did you catch that pun there? I used the phrase, "fight fire with fire" because he's burning a holy book. That was clever, wasn't it? Well regardless, perhaps this entry is not the most appropriate place for my wit. Anyway, as if Jones promoting this event to his community was not bad enough, the media could easily be held responsible for not only enlightening the rest of the world about this atrocity, but for making religious tolerance even more difficult to obtain. On the other hand, perhaps we should thank the media for showing us how islamophobia has become completely out of control. Either way, I would like to state that I acknowledge Jones' right to speak his mind, no matter how insane he may seem. But just because the Constitution allows him to burn the Qur'an, it does not necessarily mean that it is the right thing to do, and I think the violent and deadly aftermath of this situation is enough proof of that. 


So how are we supposed to overcome this ridiculous, yet destructive fear? I might be able to answer this question with a personal experience. When I was only 10 years old, I remember watching the beginning of the 2002 Winter Olympics with my father one night. We were watching the opening ceremony as all of the teams representing different countries from around the world entered the Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. I then noticed that Afghanistan's athletes were being introduced and called out onto the field. At the time, I was unaware of all the details regarding the 9/11 attacks, but I did know that the men responsible for the tragedy were members of Al-Qaeda, which is partially based in Afghanistan. Me being a misunderstood and incognizant child at the time, I asked my father, "Dad, are people going to boo them off the field?" My father was quick to correct my thinking, and I will never forget what he told me. He looked at me and he said, "Colin, you have to understand that not all Muslims are behind what happened." He then went on to explain to me that most Muslims were, like us, deeply saddened by that grim day's events. I believe that my father's wise words have helped me become the individual that I am today, and for that, I thank him. 


We cannot deny fair treatment to others with religious differences (or any differences for that matter) any longer. People from all around the world emigrate to the United States to live a life in which they have the freedom to express themselves, and recently, many Americans have not been as accepting as they should be. Muslim Americans are just as American as we are, and they should have the right to practice their religion and be who they are without having to tolerate grief from anyone. They deserve all of the individual rights and freedoms that we have and I refuse to boo them off the field. 


Sources:
http://blog.park51.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/nyregion/04mosque.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/nyregion/09mosque.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/kashmir-protesters-killed-quran-row
http://abcnews.go.com/US/terry-jones-pastor-burn-koran-day/story?id=11575665
http://abcnews.go.com/US/pastor-terry-jones-cancels-koran-burning-calls-ground/story?id=11594495
http://www.who-sane.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Park51Rendition.jpg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/sep/08/quran-burning-protests#/?picture=366522397&index=4