Last night I made my usual trek from Findlay, Ohio, where I teach seminarians and undergrad religious studies majors, to Perrysburg, about 35 minutes north. I moved with my wife to Perrysburg just under a year ago, a picturesque Midwestern town with parades for just about every occasion, no shortage of American flags, and a proud history of being the only other city platted by the U.S. government (Washington D.C. being the other, of course).
I'll be honest. Small-town living has been a bit of a re-adjustment for us. While both my wife and I were raised in the area, we left for the city life of Chicago more than 17 years ago and later spent several years in Philadelphia. It came as a shock when, during one of the worst economies in U.S. history, the school with the most immediate faculty opening after my doctoral graduation was smack in the middle of Ohio. I had fond memories of my childhood here, but I'd lived in big cities all of my adult life. In Philadelphia, almost all of the 11 neighbors in our apartment building were from other countries or ethnicities. We grew accustomed to the potent cacophony of scents that filled our hallway at dinnertime. Not so in Perrysburg.
The differences between Northwest Ohio and Chicago or Philadelphia go beyond Philly's pronunciation of water as "wooter" or the Chicago rendition of pop as "soda." In Chicago, we lived close enough to the projects to hear frequent gunfire. In contrast, the streets of uptown Perrysburg are the quaint home of the Thursday night farmer's market. It is the kind of place where you open your mail one day and read a note from your home's former owner: "Ran into neighbor Barb at the post-office. Congrats on the bathroom remodel!"
But this is not to suggest that Perrysburg lacks diversity. One of the most stunning sights in the area is on my route home from work. As one approaches our small town, there are two options: Route 23 or Interstate 75. If you take 23, you take mega-church alley, where large, unimaginative buildings shout Bible verses on scrolling electronic signs. However, opt for I-75 and you'll soon be dazzled by a beautiful mosque known as the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. On a bright day you cannot miss the glow of its gold dome, flanked by twin minarets. And at night, soft lights illuminate huge stained-glass windows. It is a work of art I get to enjoy with every trip home.
The Center, the fruits of the labor of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants to Toledo, was the third mosque to be founded in America. It serves not only as a place of worship for Muslims of two-dozen nationalities, but as a place of social action and interfaith discussions.
It also adds a bit of good, old-fashioned competition to the region.
Immediately after our Midwestern mosque is an exit decked with signage demanding that I spend my money at Burger King, MacDonald's, Bob Evans, Panera or Chili's. They all compete with one another and, hey, that's America. So what could be more American than this gorgeous mosque competing for religious space with the local mega-churches and even my little Episcopalian congregation just a mile and a half away?
But the mosque also has a personal association for me. When I'm teaching late, my wife asks me to let her know when I'm getting close to home. The mosque is almost exactly 10 minutes from our driveway and is therefore a convenient marker. In the car I pull out my Android phone and give it a voice command to text her just one word: "mosque."
After the first few times I did this, I realized that the sight of the mosque triggers an association with "home." Knowing I'm almost home is a great feeling: it's my place of refuge; it's where I spend time with the most important person in my life; it's where I enjoy good conversation, good wine and good books. So if someone were to remove the mosque, something of "almost home" would go with it.
Last Thanksgiving, this possibility was brought to light when the mosque in Corvallis, Ore., where Mohamed Osman Mohamud (the thwarted car bomber) attended, was fire-bombed. This act of terrorism against the mosque only highlights the continuing hate that some have for their American Muslim neighbors. During the height of the New York "mosque controversy," some of my conservative friends suggested all sorts of nefarious and conspiratorial connections that "our" mosque could have. One person even went so far as to say that the minarets were hiding missiles.
Fear will always find a way to perpetuate itself. Unfortunately, whether one is in New York, Tennessee, Oregon or Ohio, to hate-blinded people a mosque can mean only terrorism. I doubt this attitude will disappear anytime soon. But I am happy to say that, of all the things (good or bad) our local mosque may represent to my neighbors, for me it means I'm almost home.
Follow Brandon G. Withrow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bwithrow
Islamic Center of Greatre Toledo Ohio Muslim Islam Community
Perrysburg, Ohio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mosque Controversy: Does America Have a Muslim Problem? - TIME
Jews have attacked ChristiansÂ, Copts, Muslims, atheists, Hindus, and even bombed Mosques and Hotels full of civilians.
Those pesky facts again, I know..
(I was among various protesters against Bush II invading Iraq).
The problem is, many people, having learned of my views on topics such as religion, free speech and secularism, seem to want to pull their hands back. In most cases, it is their religion that will not allow them to tolerate my views.
For my part, I assume that people's views are the consequence of their background. As long as we can meet on neutral ground (such as that provided by a secular state), I am always interested in hearing what they think and why they think it.
www.aobm.org
This mosque has long been a landmark in my family as well. I grew up in the Detroit suburbs, and many of my relatives live in Ohio, so this beautiful structure was one of our landmarks on trips down to see grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Now that I’ve returned with my wife to southeast Michigan, this time near Ann Arbor, it’s once again serving as a landmark on family trips.
I too live in Perrysburg.
Shortly after 9/11, someone fired on the mosque in Perrysburg. Thousands of people from the Toledo area, (many responding to promotions on a local Christian radio station) joined at the mosque and formed a symbolic protective ring around the mosque - enough people showed to ring the mosque twice (and it is a big building - see, e.g., http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/images/articles/2007_09/126/u1_ToledoMosque.jpg)
BTW, FWIW, in 2008, I worked a voter registration table there on Eid ul-Fitr (the day after Ramadan ends, when Muslims gather to communally break the fast of Ramadan and do charitable works - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan#Eid_ul-Fitr)
The "traditional family values," the joyous community that I saw there were exactly like similar events at the Christian churches I have belonged to. Afterward, I had one of the deepest and most sincere spiritual discussions with a mosque member that I have ever had - we worship the same God, we are fellow descendants of Abraham. We have different understandings of some of the details of who God is, but all spiritual doctrine teaches that God exceeds any person's full understanding.
God is indeed great, or as Christians in the Mideast say (along with Muslims): Allahu Akbar!
Have you ever heard the expression "Never assume. It makes an a$$ out of you and me." Well, in this case it certainly is true, at least on your part.
I'm a Modern Methodist Sunday School teacher.
"I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." George H. W. Bush
Perhaps I am being unfair, but no house of worship really makes me feel at home.
Don't get too worked up about those religious who try to exclude you -- I have had fellow Christians tell me that I cannot possibly be a Christian because I am liberal!
Really following Jesus can be really hard in modern America, and I doubt if any of us really get it right.
Please forgive us our trespasses, better than we seem to be able to forgive those who trespass against us....
I have met many religious people whose company I enjoy and with whom I have no problem coexisting despite our intellectual disagreement on matters of the supernatural.
At the same time, there are those who do indeed treat me as an enemy, making me their political enemy in the process. They see secularism as our ruin, and I see it as our salvation. If I may come across as "worked up," as rjwalker put it, or disheartened, it is because only a delicate balance is stopping those who would weaken the establishment clause of the Constitution from achieving their goal.
It isn't people behaving as Christians I have a problem with, it's people who would impose their beliefs on others.
Interestingly, it usually seems to be those who don't need to be forgiven that ask for forgiveness. Before the others can be forgiven, they have to stop what they are doing.
Lol! Thanks for the laugh!
In Islam itself, these minarets are emblematic of horrendous internal struggles inside Islam, to the death.
Consider the Muslims in nearly every community in the U.S. -- aren't they, almost without exception, doing that and only that?
I'm not talking about the information in the news, or on anti-Islamic websites -- I'm talking about the day to day reality.
Example: there's an Islamic center in my city that I didn't even know was there, until recently; it's very low-key, and I just happened to notice it, after driving by it at least ten times. Most other places I've lived have had larger Muslim populations than where I live now -- and I've never heard, seen, or heard of any issue whatsoever, with the local Muslim community; not in the news, not from neighbors or friends - nothing.
I've known a few Muslims personally, and without exception, they've been stellar examples of exactly what you describe above (nice people, who didn't really do or say anything to announce they were Muslim, and who didn't ever bring up religion as a topic, proactively) -- and actually far more so than many Christians I've known, who have not scored nearly as highly regarding your latter two items, in my experience.
The only times Muslims have come to my attention personally has been in a positive way (for instance, after 9/11, when quite a few people in my city helped make sure that no one was seeking to harm innocent Muslims).
This is just a guess -- but I'm guessing your sense of an existing problem, related to Muslims, is probably much stronger than that of Talab.
BZ.
Everyone's actual experience with Muslims, in the U.S. at least, seems to be like this.
Yet, for some reason, people seem more inclined to believe the negative things they read online, which originate entirely, as far as I know, from non-Muslims.
On the one hand, we have the actual behavior, from people in the actual group in question (Muslims).
On the other hand, we have the fears of people who are not part of that group, and who have already decided that we have much to fear from what they imagine is the agenda of that group.
Does that make any sense whatsoever?
Let's do it!
BZ.