human-ness

So, my mind and my heart have recently been focused on how unkindly and unfairly some groups of people are treated.
1. I read The Help and although it's fiction, it's historical fiction and you can bet those stories really occurred between some white women and their "help." The segregation laws were very much real.
2.I recently watched an Oprah episode where she returned to a small town 20 years later after doing an episode about a young gay man with AIDS and the city's reaction to him jumping into a public pool. It was shocking to me to hear a man say "they should all be shipped to their own island so they can whittle down their own kind." Seriously?! What was almost more appalling was that views in that town hadn't changed much in 20 years.
3.I have heard bits and pieces of the debate over the Muslim center being built near Ground Zero...I listen until I get frustrated, which isn't too long.

I'm thankful to live in a time where people can drink out of whatever water fountain they want, people with AIDS (or cancer or even a prosthetic leg) can swim in a public pool without being ridiculed on national TV.

I'm sad and baffled that some people forget or don't want to remember that when we all lay down at night to go to bed, that we're someone's daughter, sister, father, uncle, or friend. We're human beings and we're way more alike than we are different. We all eat food, we all like to be comfortable, we all want to belong, to be valued, and to count.

Someone posted the Washington Post article below on Facebook and I think I read it about 4 times while simultaneously clapping. It made me think back to my graduate classes, and one in particular: Diversity. I loved this class. I loved how it pushed everyone's boundaries. I loved how it made me think and rethink and rethink again. I loved how it opened my eyes to other people's lives and struggles. I loved that it made me want to do better. The article inspired me to look back at my own "journal" entries from that class. We had readings each night and several guest speakers throughout the course of the class. Our assignment each night was to write a journal entry (for a grade) about the day's class discussions and readings. I have put one of my journal entries below the WP article.

Here's the Washington Post article:
Dear Muslims, let's all agree to reject hatred
By Kathleen Parker
Sunday, September 12, 2010

Dear Muslim World,

I am writing you today as an American citizen who is deeply embarrassed by current events in my country.

First, let me say that I am not representing anyone. I can't claim to speak for anyone but myself, though I am certain that many others feel as I do.

I want to address the current controversy over the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero and the so-called "pastor" in Florida who had been threatening to burn a Koran.

I'll begin with the easier of the two: Please ignore Pastor Terry Jones. I wish we had. He may live in the United States. He may have a building with a cross on it and call it a church. And he may know 50 or so people who care what he says, but he's nobody. His threat to burn a Koran was a desperate attempt to get attention and nothing more.

Anyone can call himself a pastor, but there's a reason Jones leads such a tiny congregation. We have a long tradition in this country of letting people speak their thoughts in public, but we don't take many of them very seriously. We laugh at characters like Jones but figure it's better to let fools reveal themselves in the light of day than to let them fester in the dark.

I know this is hard to understand. We have trouble with it sometimes, too. Freedom is a messy affair, and sometimes people get their feelings hurt but we think the trade-off is worth the aggravation.

What we hope you understand is that most Americans were appalled by Jones's proposal, too. Many of us would like for him to crawl back under his rock and stay there, never to be heard from again. Alas, our laws do not forbid stupidity. A few decades ago, Jones would be standing on a fruit crate on a street corner, where children would point at him and be scolded by their parents: "It's not nice to make fun of crazy people." Today, thanks to the miracle of mass communication, he can command a broad, if undeserved, audience.

What our laws do not require, of course, is that we give him our attention, and that's where we have failed each other and ourselves. As a member of the news media, I am sorry that we handed him a megaphone, and I apologize. Please be patient. In a few days, he will be forgotten.

Of more pressing concern, and less easily resolved, is the controversy in this country about the proposed Islamic cultural center in Manhattan. I understand the sensitivity, as I'm sure many of you do. When we were attacked by terrorists nine years ago, our hearts were broken. They still are.

Nevertheless, we don't hold all Muslims responsible for what happened any more than all Christians should be held responsible for what Pastor Jones has been saying. Muslims also died when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. To say that an Islamic center can't be built near Ground Zero is to say that all Muslims are to blame. I don't think that most Americans believe this, even though a majority now say that they would prefer the center be built elsewhere.

This can't be explained rationally because this is purely an emotional response. Obviously, Muslims have the same right to worship when and where they please, just as any other group in America. The same rules of tolerance that allow a Florida pastor to preach his message also allow Muslims to preach theirs.

We may never be able to agree on some things. That is life. But let us all agree to some terms. Let's agree not to tolerate hatred -- toward Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists or any others. Let's agree not to use inflammatory language. Let's agree to call out and condemn those who would incite riot, whether it's an imam who orders the death of a cartoonist or the preacher who wants to burn another man's holy book.

Let's agree that sometimes we will disagree but that none of this makes any sense if worshiping the creator means we must destroy each other in the process. Anyone who believes in God can't also believe that his divine plan included his creation's mutual destruction.

Peace be upon us all. Or as we say around here, God bless.

Sincerely,

An American

My journal entry
6.23.08

Well I am just eating up the information I’m learning about other religions, particularly the Muslim faith that I read about tonight. I knew a few bits of trivia about it, but feel so much more informed having read two different pieces about the faith. I did not know that Islam believed any parts of Christianity, let alone that the two religions share quite a bit of history. I can’t help but wonder how many Christians are aware of this…
In reading and reflecting, I thought a lot about the current state of politics and prejudices against Muslims. I find it sad, and honestly a bit ignorant, that people can hold an entire group of people accountable for something done by a handful of individuals who happened to be members of their faith…or claimed to be. There is no arguing that since 9/11 Muslim people have been the targets of profiling by officials and also citizens. The last time I was at the airport, I watched as an older couple, who I presumed to be Muslim, remove their shoes and had their bags searched. I remember feeling sorry for them…they were suffering the consequences of people’s actions they had never met.
I realize I’m coming at this journal entry with more of a racial/cultural discussion than a religious one. But as I read about the history and practice of Islam, no where did I read that followers were expected to fly planes into buildings, carry out suicide bombings, or plot to kill mass amounts of people-usually Americans. I don’t-but I do-understand why an entire religious culture is essentially punished for the crimes and malevolence of a small number of people. Is it just easier to place blame that way? Is it easier to make sense of tragedy when you can blame someone or a group of people that is still alive; that way you can fight the enemy? And is America really all that more protected by having all, although racial profiling “doesn’t exist”, Muslim-looking people go through intense scrutiny? Does anyone think to ask what religion they are affiliated with? I think a lot of religious assumptions are made, and are made based on looks. I am positive that there are white Americans who practice Islam, but are they made to go through extra security measures at airports? Who’s to say they are any less likely than the next Muslim to cause mass harm and panic to a group of people?
With all the disappointment behind those questions, there is hope after reading the article about Reza Aslan. As the author says, he is one of the “great hopes for Muslims to take back the faith…” This article brings about the question; can one person really change the world? Well, most likely, the answer is no. But, he can bring some awareness, advocacy, and education to people who are willing to listen. And he can encourage others like him to follow in his footsteps.
Do I think the Muslim faith will ever be fairly judged again? Not in my lifetime. But I can hope that when people allow their eyes to be opened a little bit, and their minds challenged even just slightly, that the followers of Islam may get a little bit more of a fair chance to practice their faith and be members of the human race.