{"id":74,"date":"2015-11-03T15:05:50","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.fau.edu\/lifelongexchange\/?p=74"},"modified":"2015-11-04T13:31:19","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T13:31:19","slug":"still-another-phobia-islamophobia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.fau.edu\/lifelongexchange\/2015\/11\/03\/still-another-phobia-islamophobia\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Another Phobia: Islamophobia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people claim American exceptionalism but, at least in regard to fear and aversion of \u201cthe Other,\u201d we are just like the vast majority of societies. Over most of our history, a significant majority turned against religious, ethnic or ideological minorities in our own midst accusing them of threatening \u201cus.\u201d\u00a0 To just mention a few: anti-Native Americans, anti-African slaves and their descendants, anti-Catholics, anti-Irish-Americans, anti-Semitism, anti-Italian-Americans, anti-German-Americans, Anti-Polish-Americans, anti-Chinese and Japanese- Americans, anti-Russian or anti-communist, anti-Mexican-Americans or, more broadly, anti-Latino-Americans, anti-immigrants (esp. \u201cundocumented immigrants\u201d), and, the most recent, anti-Muslim (both Muslims born and living in this country and Muslims elsewhere).\u00a0 It is interesting that descendants of some who have been discriminated against now use the very same arguments of experiencing threats against the more recent subject of our phobia that had been directed toward their ancestors.<\/p>\n

The way it seems to work is that, on the basis of some negative experience or even merely memories or rumors of negative experiences, we extrapolate to arrive at the notion that the entire group posits a threat to our collective survival.\u00a0 As we overcome the fear of one group, we quickly conclude that this new threat is the greatest ever.\u00a0 Even in a highly individualistic society such as ours, we seem to quickly revert to collectivist\/tribal thinking according to which bad action by some from another group makes us jump to the conclusion that all of them are a threat to us and need to be eliminated.<\/p>\n

In regard to Islam and Muslims, there are, indeed, some Muslims who, allegedly in the name of Islam, have done and continue to do massively evil things. But they are a tiny radicalized minority of terrorists for whom there is a technical name,”Islamists” or “jihadists.” The followers of the “Islamist” interpretation of Islam are located in many places of the world (esp. groups like al-Qaeda, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria\/ISIL) and some can be found in the US. While they have done harm to some of us, they are, at least up to now, nowhere near the damage done by other individuals and groups in our country (or county).\u00a0 If you don\u2019t believe me, read the papers or watch the daily news.<\/p>\n

What about the vast majority of Muslims in the US?\u00a0 There may be a handful who are sympathizers of radical retaliation of actions by western nations but the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful folks whose purpose in life is no different from that of most of “us”, namely, to raise their families, earn an education and make a living, enjoy friendship with others, and follow a path of honorable and constructive living.<\/p>\n

How do I know that?\u00a0 Not only from common sense observation about the human condition here on earth but also I travelled widely in the Muslim world, had many Muslim students both American-born and foreign-born, have many Muslim friends, helped Muslim refugees, and published the writings of Muslim scholars. I taught Muslims and I learned from Muslims.\u00a0 Many of them struggle with the heritage of animosity toward “others” found in their holy book and in their tradition in the same way that the rest of us struggle when confronted by animosities of our own holy books and religious or secular traditions.\u00a0 If you were to ask would I be concerned about living among Muslims, I would answer, \u201cno more than living among any other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

My appeal is not to allow our phobias, including Islamophobia, to make a lie out of the words of our national anthem, regarding the claim that we live in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” \u00a0If we live in fear either because we are threatened by those whom we despise or feel threatened by those who despise us, we are not free. Nor are we brave when we continue to nurture phobias. The solution is simple. Venture to meet as many Muslims as you can.\u00a0 Get to know them as persons.\u00a0 Will you always have a good experience? No more than meeting people of “our own group.” \u00a0 In every group, there are some people who may not be likable to you, but venturing out of our comfort zone almost always brings rewarding experiences.\u00a0 Then, too, you will be able to appeal to others to drop their Islamophobia (or any other group animosity you may currently have) and truly live \u201cin the land of the free and the home of the brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

D\"mojzes\"r. Paul Mojzes is Professor Emeritus of religious studies at Rosemont College, Rosemont, Pennsylvania, where he used to be the Provost and Academic Dean. Currently, he is teaching a six-week course, “Religious Violence and Peacemaking,” at FAU LLS Jupiter on Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. \u00a0He also taught in the Holocaust and Genocide Masters program at Stockton College in New Jersey. He is a native of Yugoslavia who studied at Belgrade University Law\u00a0School, received the A.B. degree from Florida Southern College and a Ph.D. degree from Boston University in Eastern European church history. He is the co-editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies<\/em>, and founder and editor of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe. Author of six and the editor of fourteen books, he has written over 100 articles and chapters in books. Among his recent books are “Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century,” “Yugoslavian Inferno: Ethnoreligious Warfare in the Balkans,” “Religious Liberty in Eastern Europe and the USSR,” and edited “Religion and War in Bosnia” and co-edited “Interreligious Dialogue Toward Reconciliation in Macedonia and Bosnia.” He lectured in numerous countries and participated in a great variety of interreligious dialogues and Holocaust and genocide conferences.<\/p>\n

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Many people claim American exceptionalism but, at least in regard to fear and aversion of \u201cthe Other,\u201d we are just like the vast majority of societies. Over most of our history, a significant majority turned against religious, ethnic or ideological…<\/span><\/p>\n

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