Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy and Akbar Ahmed.
Amid a surging fear of Muslims — Islamophobia — in our nation, it is time for all of us to improve our understanding of Islam and our relationships with Muslims — if not because it is right to do this morally, then because it is in our best interests nationally.
The fact is that we live in a world alongside one and a half billion Muslims, and regardless of the desire of some on the fringes of society, our Muslim neighbors are not going anywhere. A failure to understand this population and its religion is bad enough. Choosing to intentionally demonize those who follow this religion and provoke the anger of the Muslim people qualifies not just as insensibility but insanity.
General David Petraeus, the current commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, seems to be the type of person who would have a good sense of how the Muslim world perceives the rising level of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the United States. Just as importantly, he would see the impact of that rhetoric on the men and women serving in the U.S. military abroad.
Here is a solid chunk of reality. In an unprecedented move last year, General Petraeus asked the American people not to participate in or support burnings of the Quran and anti-Muslim rhetoric because of the potentially harmful impact of such behavior on our military personnel in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Categories: Americas, Islamophobia, United States
I wrote the following two paragraphs today to introduce my collection of articles, titled: An Academic Fortress against Islamophobia:
Islam and Muslims are not monolithic. The Muslims come with different theological, political and social views. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes in complete separation of Mosque and State and shrines religious freedom for every human being.
To those Christians, who are excelling in their Islamophobia let me suggest, to look around, read some books by Bart Ehrman, Joseph Priestly, John Dominic Crossan and Shelby Spong. Look at the empty churches in Europe and notice that Christianity, with its irrational dogma is imploding all around you. Do not rush in your zeal to destroy Islam or the Muslims, as you or your generations may soon need Islam as the only viable way to Monotheism!
http://knol.google.com/k/zia-shah/an-academic-fortress-against/1qhnnhcumbuyp/297#