Religion story of the year: anti-Muslim bigotry in America
The recent decision by Lowe’s Home Improvement to pull ads from the reality TV show “All-American Muslim” caps a very successful year for the growing anti-Muslim movement in the United States.
So successful, in fact, that anti-mosque protests, anti-Shariah laws, and anti-Muslim hate crimes could easily fill any list of “top five” religion stories in 2011.
Lowe’s withdrawal from sponsoring a show about the daily life of five American Muslim families was apparently in response to objections to the program from a conservative Christian group called the Florida Family Association.
Wittingly or unwittingly, Lowe’s action re-enforces the message anti-Muslim groups have been propagating for years: Portraying Muslims as ordinary Americans is problematic, if not wrong and dangerous, because it may lull the rest of us into ignoring the stealth threat of Islam and Muslims to the freedom and security of the United States.
Of course, the Florida Family Association and other anti-Muslim groups hasten to tell you, there are some “good Muslims.” But Islam itself, they argue, is inherently violent and oppressive — and eventually Muslims in America will subvert our laws by imposing their own.
Never mind how many studies show high levels of opposition to radical Islam and extreme interpretations of Shariah law among Muslim Americans. Never mind how much Muslim leaders and institutions in the U.S. help in the fight against extremism. Never mind the millions of Muslims who have practiced their faith freely and peacefully in America for generations — without undermining the Constitution.
No reasoned argument, no amount of scholarship, no pile of studies is enough to convince the diehard “stop the Islamization of America” crowd that they are wrong to demonize Islam and Muslims in the U.S.
In 2011, the anti-Muslim narrative migrated from the right-wing fringe into the mainstream. It’s gone so far that even an innocuous television show created to fight stereotypes loses a sponsor because it doesn’t portray the very stereotypes it attempts to dispel.
Fortunately, Americans who care about religious freedom are beginning to push back. As I write this, Christians, Jews, Muslims and others are organizing boycotts of Lowe’s in cities throughout the nation. And growing numbers of religious and political leaders are speaking out against intolerance and prejudice aimed at Muslim Americans.
If the decision-makers at Lowe’s had hoped to avoid controversy by pulling sponsorship from the show, they badly miscalculated.
In a world plagued by extremists acting in the name of Islam, it goes without saying that Americans have every reason to be worried about homegrown terrorism. According to the polls, Muslim Americans strongly share that concern. That’s why imams preach and work against extremism and Muslim Americans are actively helping law enforcement foil terrorist plots (studies support both of these assertions).
Incoherent and unnecessary laws banning Shariah, unfounded fears about mosques in the neighborhood, and ugly attempts to paint all Muslims with the terrorist brush, are all red herrings that divert Americans from our shared goal of fighting extremism (of all varieties) and securing our safety and freedom.
Ironically, Lowe’s cave-in to anti-Muslim prejudice may prove to be exactly what was needed to wake Americans up to the very real dangers of Islamophobia in our country.
If we must concede 2011 to the propagators of fear and hate, let’s work to make 2012 a banner year for proponents of religious freedom.
Tags: boycott, Muslim, religious belief, religious tolerance
10 Responses to “Religion story of the year: anti-Muslim bigotry in America”
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Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer/First Amendment Center. Previously, Paulson served as editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today and USATODAY.com.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is a scholar at the First Amendment Center. Hudson writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications devoted to First Amendment issues.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
“Never mind the millions of Muslims who have practiced their faith freely and peacefully in America for generations — without undermining the Constitution.”
Oh, please. That’s because they’re a tiny fraction of the population (for now). Of course they can’t push hijabs and burqas on non-Muslim women now (but they DO force it on pain of beating on their own women —- see this imam near Seattle WA tell his followers to beat their wives if they repeatedly remove their hijab at 8:00 at http://www.popmodal.com/video/7382/US-Imam-Allah-is-clear-you-can-hit-your-wife ).
You really think things wouldn’t change if they were 80% of the population? Please. They would install sharia faster than you can say “Assalamu Alaikum.” Don’t be so naive.
They’re already pushing for dog-free taxis, special foot washers in public bathrooms, the ability to hide their faces on ID photos, etc etc. And it will only get worse.
And I’m not anti-Islam. I’m anti-loss-of-freedom. I feel the exact same way about other fundamentalists. You think if 80% of the population were made up of Pat Robertson clones, we’d still have the separation of church and state?? Nonsense. If elected dictator, he’d immediately stone all gays and nonChristians. If NY state were 80% Hassidic Jews, you don’t think they’d close all stores on Saturday and force all women to dress according to their wishes? Please.
Only one group of folks are as dangerous to the Constitution as religious fundamentalists: appeasers like you, who happily open the door to folks who want to step on our rights. Eurabia has already lost the battle because of PC multiculturalists who fear being called a bigot more than they fear losing their rights. America better wake up before it’s too late.
Btw, Islamophobia is an irrational fear of Islam. My fear of Islam isn’t irrational.
Off to shop at Lowe’s now!
Dear Dr. Haynes,
Your article referenced several items that I would ask your sources:
Anti Muslim hate crimes (is this a major problem and where do you get the information?}
What are the studies that show “high levels of opposition to radical Islam and extreme interpretations of Sharia law among Muslim Americans”?
Who are the “Muslim leaders and institutions in the US helping to fight extremism”?
Who are the Imams who are preaching and working against Islam extremism? What are the “studies supporting the assertions” as stated in your article.
These were referenced in your article. What are the sources?
Thank you.
Thank you for writing. Here are several studies (among others) to support my statements:
http://pewforum.org/Press-Room/Press-Releases/New-Pew-Research-Center-Survey-Finds-Moderate-Attitudes-Among-Muslim-Americans.aspx
fds.duke.edu/db/attachment/1255
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/03/pdf/sharia_law.pdf
The Duke study is the most extensive investigation yet of what imams are actually teaching in American mosques.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, the number of attacks on Muslims and Muslim institutions has dramatically risen over the past two years (I got this from Eric Treene in the DOJ who investigates these attacks). The last figures we have from the FBI are 2009… and thus don’t have the most recent figures. But if you look at the FBI reports since 9/11, you can see the increase in anti-Muslim attacks.
Charles Haynes
Haynes wrote: “The Duke study is the most extensive investigation yet of what imams are actually teaching in American mosques.”
It’s no mystery what they’re teaching. Just look at the URL I provided above. Did you look at it, Charles? If so, what’s your opinion on wife-beating? For or against?
http://www.popmodal.com/video/7382/US-Imam-Allah-is-clear-you-can-hit-your-wife
It’s ironic that the Duke report studied mosques in the Seattle area, because that’s exactly where that imam is located. The imam’s Linkedin page indicates that he’s also an employee at Microsoft. A mainstream company. And I’m fairly certain he’d tell everyone that he’s a mainstream Muslim. And yet he tells his followers to hit their wives. Perhaps Duke missed some important details when listening to “what imams are actually teaching in American mosques.”
Now let’s look at the pro-appeasement Center for American Progress report. It says “So if CSP [a conservative think tank] wants Muslims to reject Sharia, they are effectively arguing Muslims should reject nonviolence.” Bwaaa haaaaaa haaaaa!!! How Orwellian can one get??
The imam above — the mainstream guy who works at Microsoft — advocates HITTING YOUR WIFE. That’s violence! If you want to reject violence, then — yes, indeed — you should vociferously reject Sharia. And, no, that imam is not misinterpreting the Quran. He was practically reciting it verbatim. For details, see http://quran.com/4/34
The battering of women, Matt, is of course, a separate issue from religious freedom and, unfortunately, not limited to the practioners of any particular faith. “Fear” has become a good marketing tool in American culture and politics, but we must not lose sight of how all our freedoms are connected. It is through honor and appreciation of others that we best share our own points of view.
Dinah, I was simply demolishing the PC claim by multiculturalists that Shariah/Islam and violence against women are mutually exclusive. The former, in fact, leads to the latter.
Yes, “fear” is a good marketing tool. You have so much fear of being called an Islamophobe that you’ll bend over backwards to put the welcome mat out for those who beat your fellow women.
Speaking of “losing sight” of our freedoms, how about the freedom of women to conduct their lives without violence? Please stop holding hands with those who encourage it.
It wasnt a group of Baptists that flew those planes into the World Trade Centers now was it? The USS Cole, the Marine barracks in Beirut, etc? I will now give Lowes all my business.
[...] First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and the Newseum called “anti-Muslim bigotry” the top religion story of [...]
Great article. Thanks!
America has always been about religious freedom- for this I am truly grateful!
[...] Muslims, has consequences of its own. In the years since 9/11, Islamophobia has been on the rise. The First Amendment Center called “anti-Muslim bigotry” “the religion story of the year” in 2011, which the SPLC [...]