{"id":151,"date":"2008-12-15T16:04:59","date_gmt":"2008-12-15T16:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2008\/12\/dial-a-muslim.html"},"modified":"2008-12-15T16:04:59","modified_gmt":"2008-12-15T16:04:59","slug":"dial-a-muslim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/12\/dial-a-muslim.html","title":{"rendered":"Dial a muslim"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is brilliant – muslims in Florida have launched a campaign whereby they run ads on the side of public transport buses, inviting people to call a phone number and talk to a fellow citizen who is muslim<\/a>. The idea is to foster personal links and engage in one-on-one dialogue between people, not PR teams:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For eight weeks, the Dade and Broward County
\ntransit systems will display colorful banners about Islam on the sides
\nof 120 local buses. Floridians of all faiths are invited to call
\n1-888-ISLAM-55 or visit the www.CallingIslam.com website to discover
\naccurate information about Islam and Muslims.<\/p>\n

Even though
\nwe have been speaking out, many of our fellow Americans have not heard
\nus; now they can. This project creates an avenue for dialogue and
\nfriendship. Through a direct line of communication all Americans will
\nbe able to make an informed decision about Muslims and Islam. <\/p>\n

Already
\non the second day of the campaign an upset individual, whose call ended
\nup in my queue, asked why Muslims wanted to dominate the world by
\nconverting everyone to Islam. After a 20-minute discussion we parted as
\nfriends: a Christian and a Muslim who found we had more things in
\ncommon than different. Stereotypes were dispelled and the truth was
\ntold. <\/p>\n

With all good things come challenges. Not only
\nwill there be success stories but also difficult stories. For example,
\nthe first caller I talked to was so livid about the campaign that his
\nlanguage was littered with profanity. <\/p>\n

We will not change the mind of every caller, but we will create bridges with those interested in exchanging views. <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the sort of innovation that the chapters of CAIR are great at doing – I have long argued that for all CAIR’s ineptitude at the national level, the state and local chapters do meaningful work<\/a>. I still think it would be wise for CAIR to compile data on anti-semitic incidents in collaboration with the ADL, but that’s another topic.<\/p>\n

(via John Burgess<\/a>, who has a low opinion of CAIR)<\/p>\n

Related reading – my post on Muslim Advocates<\/a>, a muslim civil rights group that is filling the void left by CAIR’s national leadership. I also discuss potential ideas for reforming CAIR<\/a> to be more effective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is brilliant – muslims in Florida have launched a campaign whereby they run ads on the side of public transport buses, inviting people to call a phone number and talk to a fellow citizen who is muslim. 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City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}