American Muslims Deserve Respect

Rep. Peter King's hearings about the "radicalization" of the American Muslim community was just the first in a series of similar inquiries. Moving forward, I hope King takes to heart the sincere and fair-minded critique of his inflammatory rhetoric and sweeping generalization about the Muslim community. Controversial topics and contentious debates need not be avoided, but we need to engage them with substance rather than bluster.

I was proud to stand with diverse faith leaders, national security experts and civil rights groups in strong opposition to King's prejudiced premise. The fundamental disagreement, though, is even bigger than whether King's actions in this specific instance were right or wrong. This is now a debate about whether American values are bedrock pillars that help keep us safe or mere pretenses that we cast aside in the face of serious threats or political opportunity. This debate cuts to the core of who we are as a nation.

In response to the very real threat of terrorism, casting a cloud of suspicion over the Muslim-American community violates our ideals of religious liberty and equality. It also doesn't work. The authoritative report from the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security states that building relationships between Muslim leaders and law enforcement is crucial to preventing the radicalization and alienation that can lead to violence. Impugning Muslims as insufficiently committed to protecting our nation ignores overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and it undermines the bonds of trust and community across religious and ethnic lines that make us unique in the world.

In King's opening remarks he said heeding his critics would amount to "craven surrender to political correctness" and "an abdication of what I believe to be the main responsibility of this committee: to protect America from a terrorist attack."

This clichéd juxtaposition -- the cowardice of "political correctness" versus the courage to defend our country in the face of criticism -- is not only a false choice, it's a dangerous one. If King thinks national security and counter-terrorism experts, law enforcement officials and interfaith leaders are all just being "politically correct" for stating that sweeping accusations against Muslims are untrue and counterproductive, he is rejecting the help of key partners. We can't achieve the unity we need to effectively fight terrorism if we caricature all stakeholders as either tough guys who confront Islamic terrorists or cowards who coddle them.

Throughout the lead-up to this hearing, King made numerous decisions that put him at odds with faith leaders. He started by explaining the hearings as an investigation of the entire Muslim community. He repeated and defended his baseless claim that more than 80 percent of mosques are radicalized. His first proposed witness was someone who claimed there's no such thing as moderate Islam. Rather than relying or empirical arguments or nonpartisan expert opinion, he based his entire case on individual anecdotes that reinforced his predetermined narrative. King wasn't marching forward in spite of controversy; he was openly provoking it. His later statement that the vast majority of Muslim Americans make enormous contributions to our country was welcome, but it begs the question of why he couched the hearings in such sweeping terms in the first place. (However, none of King's rhetoric in any way justifies the threats he received earlier this week.)

But ultimately, this isn't about King. It's about our future. I don't want my son to grow up in a country that treats an entire religious community like second-class citizens. Investigating how to best prevent terrorism is essential, but we can and must do so without questioning the loyalty of Muslim citizens and leaders. It strains credulity to argue that Congress would ever hold inquiries into the radicalization of the Christian community or the Jewish community, and it's not just because these religions are rarely publicly associated with terrorism. It's because you just don't do that to those faiths; they're simply held in higher regard. I hope the overwhelming display of unity from the interfaith community moves us closer to treating Muslims with the same esteem. They deserve the respect, and it's the American way.

 

Comments

[religionfree]

09:24 PM on 03/19/2011

Religious beliefs do not deserve respect. I can respect an individual person, while not respecting a specific belief that person holds.

[lightslight]

06:46 PM on 03/17/2011

hardly no one faces rude ignorance as often as a Muslim.
For, [true] servants of the Most Gracious are [only] they who walk gently on earth, and who, whenever the foolish address them, reply with [words of] peace. Holly Koran 25:63, Asad translation).

[MilesToGo]

01:27 PM on 03/16/2011

Many people who are aware of the serious faults involving Muslim communities most everywhere realize that American Muslims, because of the values gleaned in America that reaffirm the best features & teaching of Islam, offer excellent leadership and examples of the correct understanding of Islam to help educate Muslims in foreign lands that have been grossly mislead by those who would wear religion as a mask to serve violence and other negative interests.

[lightslight]

04:24 PM on 03/17/2011

"...offer excellent leadership and examples of the correct understand­ing of Islam to help educate Muslims in foreign lands..."
How much do you know about “foreign Muslims”. You would definitely benefit from getting some education from Muslims of foreign lands like Rumi, Ibn-Alarabi, Gazali, Mola Sadra, Farabi, Avicina, Soroush (google and read him, he is a foreign Muslim currently teaching in America!) and so many more. Huge collection of peacful and intelligent literature in highest capacity of human soul. Maybe you, like the majority who have been mislead about Islam, think that foreign Muslims are like alqaida who try to insist they are Muslim, while they are anything but Muslim, and damag image of Islam the most causing confusion . A Muslim does not kill unless forced to self defence. Muslims do not kill innocent. Those who do so, need to educate themselves about peaceful depths of Islam by starting to educate themselves from “Foreign Muslims”. You won't be able to read even a small percentage of many monumental works of excellence done by foreign Muslims in your lifetime.
In the various schools of light and knowledge of “foreign Muslims” you are probably in kinder garden.

[MilesToGo]

11:30 PM on 03/17/2011

I criticized only contemporary Muslim-majority nations and communities that are, in many places, in the throes of duplicitous leaders and cultural anomalies that have no justification from the Qur'an or Islamic tradition. I've likely studied & read more Islamic literature than you could know, besides Ibn Arabi's and Al-Ghazali's great works. My Arabic is fair, and I've traveled much of the Middle East & Southern Asia...besides having graduate degrees in Islamic Studies & experience working with an NGO that works in Muslim countries. The beautiful & great Islamic heritage, affected by complex modernity, is largely ignored or forgotten in many foreign Muslim lands...which is why American Muslims can teach a lot besides being good examples of what Islam is all about. You need to lighten up and not be so hasty to project such judgment from a few sentences such as mine above--which you
obviously didn't read too closely.

[lightslight]

01:12 AM on 03/18/2011

Good for you, however until you reach the point that "...offer excellent leadership and examples of the correct understand­­ing of Islam to help educate Muslims in foreign lands..." is not correct, as there are so many so much superior in Islamic knowledge and experience, continue reading and worship. Bitter advice but true.

[ThinkCreeps]

11:18 AM on 03/16/2011

Just like any other superstitious group muslims deserve the freedom to fool around with their pre-medieval activities, as long as they do not interfere with the rights of others.

Like any other superstitious group they most definitely do not deserve respect.

[Puncastle]

02:23 AM on 03/16/2011

Sheila Jackson Lee goes all in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpt7gHWU4S4

[Doug Sandlin]

08:50 PM on 03/17/2011

Awesome - thanks for the link; Faved.

[de-meme-ing]

08:38 PM on 03/15/2011

"It strains credulity to argue that Congress would ever hold inquiries into the radicalization of the Christian community or the Jewish community, and it's not just because these religions are rarely publicly associated with terrorism. It's because you just don't do that to those faiths; they're simply held in higher regard."



Wow.

[El Quahooga]

11:45 PM on 03/15/2011

Well, it's true - and that's the problem with King's hearings. They assume that likely terror threats only come from Muslims, and not those of other religious affiliations. They put a narrow focus on the Islamic community as a whole, holding hearings in bad faith with the presumption that the entire community is guilty of not helping law enforcement (blatantly false) or not standing up against Islamic extremism (also false). Plus, he's ignoring other instances of Christian and Jewish extremism here in the US, putting the focus only on Muslims.