"It's not what you call me, but what I answer to."
--African proverb
Although a decade has passed since Sept. 11, 2001, and the world has been abuzz about Islam and what it means since then, it is clear Muslim-Americans must tell their own stories.
Many have attempted to define Islam and the people who adhere to the faith. Islam in America is not something new. Islam has been practiced in America for 14 generations, but our beliefs, our practices and even our daily lives remain woefully misunderstood.
As a Member of the United States Congress I can assure you that I have been well treated, well received and well respected by my colleagues. But because I get to discuss policy matters and be part of the public conversation every day, I can admit that misconceptions still exist.
What is regrettable is that in the past decade American Muslims have been associated with individuals who claim to practice the faith but actually use it as a means to establish their identity. These individuals have been willing to kill others and to die because of the identity they've associated with the religion -- not because of the faith inherent in the religion. I must repeat something I've said before: If you use your religion as an identity as opposed to a path to divine inspirations and guidance, then you are no different than street gangs such as the Crips and the Bloods.
Those who seek the divine want to make this world a better place, which first requires that we communicate. And I must say that each writer in All-American is communicating -- connecting with readers in an honest, intimate and effective way.
It's my hope that each of us will emulate these writers. If you can make a movie, make one. If you can sing a song, sing it. If you can write a play, write it. If you want to run for office, run. But do something to make this world a better place. For if each of us follows this example we won't have to worry about which religion we follow because we will all be united in what we believe, which is service to humanity.
Keith M. Ellison
Member, Congress of the United States
Excerpt from Congressman Keith Ellison's Foreword to 'All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim' (White Cloud Press, $16.95).
Follow Rep. Keith Ellison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/keithellison
Islam in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
America at a Crossroads . America's Muslims | PBS
45 All-American Muslim Men Share Personal Stories of Faith, Family ...
All things that you can hear in the sermons of almost any extremist cleric.
Three cheers for atheism and the open mindedness tolerance it brings eh?!?!
If Islam has a tenet of martyrdom -- why do only a tiny fraction of 1% of the world's 1.6 Billion Muslims practice it?
However, Islam might have been practiced by some here before America was founded.
Still, Mr. Ellison makes a valid point that there are those who practice a religion and are true believers in its principles, and those who merely use their religion to define their own identity and try to appear nobler than they really are, and such people exist in every major religion. It describes people like the Westboro Baptists, the Klan, and TV evangelists. It describes people like Zionists and jihadists, and people who don't think of the spirituality of their religion, but rather, of its rules.
BUT. Where is the evidence of new plagues affecting the natives from contact? Why did the natives not contract and eventually gain resistance to small pox? After all, the native population was decimated by the disease shortly after the arrival of Columbus. Why did the Muslim explorers NOT bring back syphilis to the old world, which was only found in the new world at that time? And what Islamic pottery has been found?
Why would you think that Islam opposes science and reason?
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=66517
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/mamerica.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yspxxYObRlQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeojbNJyjSM
Get better policies, your voting record stinks.
But, no. The more likely explanation is that the entire worldwide media has a vendetta against Islam. Apparently, you've said that a lot, so it must be true.
http://sanford.duke.edu/centers/tcths/about/documents/Kurzman_Muslim-American_Terrorism_Since_911_An_Accounting.pdf