Why Do They Hate Us?

We live in sensitive times. Facing the possibility of a global war between America and the Muslim world, people feel extremely insecure. Their capacity to suffer pain, bigotry and injustice is severely tested. And if there is such a war, God forbid, the primary cause will not be oil, geopolitics or regime changes; no, it will result from intolerable and vicious hate speech unleashed by religious bigots on both sides--bigots who confuse self-righteousness for righteousness and demonization for devotion.

The search for security at any cost has created an environment that is emboldening Islamophobia--anti-Semitism's nasty cousin--to pop up in nearly every sphere of American society. Muslims feel discrimination and demonization. Last week, I noticed a particularly offensive bumper sticker. It said, "Kill them all. Let Allah sort them out."

Recently, evangelicals meeting in a national convention issued a widely publicized statement expressing concern that anti-Islam statements were harming their cause. But although this must be recognized and appreciated, I am disappointed evangelicals found anti-Islam rhetoric problematic for pragmatic reasons rather than on moral or Christian grounds.

Apparently, many missionaries complain that statements by, for example, Franklin Graham (who called Islam a "very evil and wicked religion"), have made efforts to proselytize Muslims more difficult. Isn't hate-mongering worthy of condemnation as an immoral act, regardless of the operational inconveniences it may cause? Isn't it against the spirit of inclusion and compassion that Jesus (pbuh) preached?

At the same convention, Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, called for a more realistic Christian-Muslim dialogue. She made an interesting and strong argument to use interfaith dialogue to advance human rights and religious freedoms. At the same time, she made a rather strange reference to the "physical, social and spiritual deficits within the Islamic world." I wonder what she means by physical deficits. Statements such as these, which assume the moral superiority of the West, are appalling. I wonder how the United States and Europe stack up when their spiritual and moral worth is measured using the Ten Commandments as a yardstick?

Meanwhile, in the absence of strong condemnation from the White House and the media, statements against Islam and Muslims have not abated. One can only imagine what pastors and evangelists may be preaching to their followers in the safety of their churches, away from media scrutiny.

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