Do Americans Hate Muslims?

Do Americans hate Muslims? Based on current news reports about those who oppose building a mosque next to ground zero – one could draw this conclusion. This is however, ludicrous and the politicizing of race, religion, and gender has got to stop. It is divisive and only serves to polarize the country further. Yes, there are always a few exceptions of individuals who are racists, but they are far and few between. However, the news generally harps on the harmful generalizations of a few ignorant bigots to magnify a news issue. Americans do not hate Muslims, but there are some simple reasons to explain why many Americans appear skeptical of Islam.

Whether the president will admit it or not, we are at war with Muslims who practice a radical and extreme version of Islam. It is estimated that less than 1% of Muslims practice these beliefs. But remember, there are 1.3 billion Muslims around the globe and that equates to around 13 million Muslims that have been indoctrinated to practice a radical version of Islam. That means for every 20 people living in the United States, there is one Muslim who believes that they are at war with modern western civilizations – especially the United States. Following 9/11 there have been numerous successful and thwarted terrorist attacks carried out by radical Islamic followers. Just in the past two years alone there have been 3 terror plots (1 successful and 2 unsuccessful) against the United States: The Fort Hood shooting, the underwear bomber, and the attempted bombing in New York City. Right or wrong, this is enough to make any person skeptical about Islam and their beliefs.

Another tactic that is causing animosity towards Muslims is what I often refer to as overcompensation. Many universities and corporations have favorable policies towards Muslim, which are not applied equally to other religious groups. For instance, my former employer has installed foot baths and a prayer room for Muslim employees. The University of Michigan has done the same thing. This helps corporations and universities recruit Muslim employees and students respectively. However, this action angers other religious factions whose requests for similar treatment are denied on grounds of separation of church and state. This method of overcompensating one group while denying other groups similar privileges creates friction. Our government, corporations, and universities do the same thing when they apply affirmative action and diversity policies. They reward one group of people while they discriminate against another group of people solely because of their race and gender. In other words, a disabled white male from a poverty background can be denied access to a university or corporation in favor of affluent blacks and females. Is that fair? Of course not! But like it or not the same practice of diversity and affirmative action is being applied to Muslims.

Religious tolerance is also causing a great deal of the tension between Christians and Muslims. While the government, universities, and corporations attempt to remove any signs of Christianity in any public setting, it is no wonder Christians are upset that Muslims want to build a massive mosque near ground zero. Think about it; it is no longer politically correct for public airports, towns, schools, and corporations to post any Christmas or Chanukah displays. This may go a long way to explain why Christians have a problem with Muslims displaying their religion so close to the sacred grounds of 9/11. What’s worse is when a school or corporation prevents an individual from expressing their religious believes. They claim it gets in the way of learning and work. So how is okay to build a Muslim prayer room, but it is unacceptable for person to wear a T shirt saying “I Love Jesus”? This is a double standard. Would the government and Muslims agree to allow the building of a Christian church near our national monuments or in the Holy Land of Mecca? Absolutely not!

The bottom line is that the United States was founded on equal protection for religious freedom. That means all religions are equal and no religion should receive preferential treatment. That is why there is separation of Church and State. For instance, if a corporation and the government give one religion charitable donations, other religions would expect the same benefits. That is why corporations and the government do not want to interfere in religious matters. If all religions are treated with equal tolerance there would not be as much of an uproar over issues such as the New York City mosque. But there is no doubt that Islam has been treated more favorably than Christianity over recent years.

Let’s face it; most people have a problem tolerating any change. Remember how Obama ran on “Hope and Change”? People always vote for change, but when the change happens, it is human nature to push back against any change. We have seen this negative reaction on just about every Obama policy pushing for change - the Recovery Act, Healthcare Reform, Financial Reform, his foreign policy and so forth. People had the same negative reaction with how Bush handled the war on terror. The American public has given the president strong negative approval ratings for all these policies. The same negative reaction to change is occurring with the proposed mosque near the 9/11 site. The American people will never forget the horrific images of 9/11. For this reason, most people will never approve of having a mosque near the 9/11 site. Thus, there will never be an appetite for change near ground zero.

Another aspect of Islam that is very difficult for any American to understand and comprehend is the aspect of sharia Law. Many avid Islamic followers abide by sharia law. There are many troubling aspects about sharia law, especially its treatment towards women. Women are still treated as second class citizens in many Muslim nations. In many respects women have no rights at all. And let’s not forget that Muslims view homosexuals as criminals. Just as the Mormon’s practice of polygamy created tensions between religious freedom and state laws, the same can be said of sharia law in America. Until American Muslims openly condemn sharia law, other religions and individuals will continue to have a tough time accepting Islam.

Finally, although I do not think Barack Obama is a practicing Muslim, there is no question he has given them preferential treatment. He has gone around the globe apologizing to Muslims for past American behavior. Past American behavior, which incidentally has saved the lives of millions of Muslims from genocide and tyranny in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Somalia. In the Palestinian – Jewish peace movement, Obama has placed the entire onus of making peace on Israel by restricting them from expanding settlements in disputed territories. Even the head of NASA stated his number one initiative was to make Muslims feel good about their contributions to science. The American public has every right to weary of any motives by a president who is favoring any religion whether it is Hebrew, Christianity, or Islam.

In summary, as Christians have seen the ability to display their religious beliefs decrease over the years, meanwhile Muslims have gotten preferential treatment from universities, corporations, and now our president. This overcompensation of institutions reaching out to one religion – Islam, has without a doubt, caused other religious factions to fight back for their equal protection rights. And this explains all the animosity we are witnessing over the mosque being built at ground zero. We are not witnessing hate; we are only witnessing one group of people trying to achieve the same level of tolerance for their beliefs as Islamic followers are getting for theirs.