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 = = Saving America from bigotry

 We're mostly disgusted with Terry Jones, pastor of the 50-member Dove World Church Outreach Center in [|Gainesville], Fla. But a small part of each of us thinks we ought to thank him for the announcement of his International Burn a Quran Day. He has given us a face and an event that crystallizes the anti-Muslim bigotry brewing for far too long and going largely unchecked in America. Anybody following religion statistics knows that anti-Muslim bigotry has existed for a long time, and the numbers are scary. In a 2009 Pew Research Center study, almost 60 percent of adults reported that Muslims in America were subject to a lot of discrimination. According to a more recent Pew study, favorable opinions of Islam have actually declined in the last five years. Currently, less than a third of Americans hold a favorable view of Islam, and about a third think Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. Jones is currently the most prominent in the sea of ugly faces of anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation today. Others are carrying signs, such as one that proclaimed: "Everything I needed to know about Islam, I learned on [|9/11] ." Some are throwing bricks at mosques and urinating on the prayer rugs inside. One asked a New York cabdriver if he was a Muslim, and then allegedly stabbed him. And now, from the fringe church that brought us the sign "Islam is the devil," this Quran burning event. It is chilling to recall a quote from the German-Jewish poet [|Heinrich Heine], who wrote in 1821 that "Wherever people burn books, there, in the end, will they also burn people." Disgusting as it is, Jones' Quran burning day is a symptom of a larger problem, which is the widespread and increasingly accepted bigotry against Muslims, a group that makes up one-fifth of humankind, and includes several million fellow Americans. A recent and fairly typical e-mail making the Internet rounds is titled: "Can a good Muslim be a good American?" The author answers "no" for a variety of reasons, such as: "Theologically — no … because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia, and admits no greater allegiance. Geographically, no… because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day. Intellectually no … because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is not based on the Quran and because it is based on biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt." 

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But bigotry exposed is preferable to bigotry concealed. In the history of our nation, when we have seen and named the ugly demons of division, the better angels of American unity go into action. Today, these angels take the form of visionary leaders who know how important it is to build an inclusive America. They are working to shield us from the scars of other eras — of Japanese internment, of "No Irish need apply" signs, of the [|KKK] 's anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic and anti-minority idea of America. For example, another pastor in Gainesville, Pastor Larry Reimer of the United Church of Christ, is gathering an ecumenical group to create a positive force in response to Jones. Reimer said: The acts of Sept. 11 were not acts that were Islamic in nature. They were acts of fanatical extremists. And fanaticism is not confined to any one faith. I think that there's no better time than Sept. 12 to remind ourselves of this and to read from the Quran in worship to point out how much we really do have in common. Similarly, Muslims across the country are responding to this hateful incident by choosing to live up to the highest ideals of their faith. Instead of turning on Jones, Muslim leaders nationwide are mobilizing their communities to volunteer and serve others to memorialize 9/11. This campaign, called Muslim Serve, is about demonstrating how Islamic values inspire Muslims to serve humanity and is meant to highlight the great contributions that the Muslim community has provided and continues to provide our great nation. The forces of unity have saved American before. We need them to save America again. ////Eboo Patel is founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based nonprofit working to build interfaith cooperation. He is author of "Acts of Faith." Samantha Kirby is a communications and policy specialist at Interfaith Youth Core.//// ////<span style="color: #000000; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; line-height: 14px;">=<span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Editorial: Quran burning will mar America's core values =
 * Sept. 8, 2010**|| [[image:http://www.baylor.edu/content/imglib/119362.jpg width="450" caption="Image"]] ||
 * =====<span style="display: inline; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica; font-size: 9px;">Esteban Diaz | Editorial Cartoonist ===== ||

<span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">At America's beginning, Pilgrims fled from religious prosecution in England and found a safe haven on American shores. While this stirring image may be a little picturesque, it certainly demonstrates the importance of religious tolerance in American culture. Tolerance was a driving force in our country's establishment. Many, in fact, would argue that religious tolerance is one of the fundamental tenets of the American Dream. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Now, religion is not the only kind of diversity America strives for. Colleges across the country are trying to attain a more diverse faculty and student body, businesses are trying to reach a more diverse group of people, and churches seek to reach out to people from every ethnic background and cultural heritage. America, the America that is the only true melting pot of cultures, religions and ethnic groups, is under attack -- a domestic one. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Terry Jones, an Evangelical in Gainesville, Fla., and the pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center, is pursuing a path of destruction and hate, not just for himself and his church, but for America, too. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Jones, in flagrant disregard for respect and tolerance, plans to host a Quran-burning bonfire on Sept. 11, according to an article by the New York Times. In doing so, Jones is violating numerous American ideals, directly endangering American people and breeding the exact emotions this country ought to be fleeing from -- hate and contempt. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">The first, and most obvious, ideal Jones is attacking is that of religious tolerance. Americans value religious freedom because nearly everyone in this country has faced religious persecution before. For example, in 1620 the Pilgrims fled England in the Mayflower to escape persecution from the king. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">America has not had a blemishless past, and we have persecuted other religious groups on our own shores, including Native Americans, Catholics, atheists and Muslims. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Recently however, Americans as a whole have come to a greater understanding of the importance of religious tolerance and have created laws to protect religious freedom and instill respect for other religions within future generations. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Jones' attack on religious freedom demonstrates shameless disregard for the respect of others and a refusal to work with other Americans in fostering a sense of community in our diverse country. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">In addition, Jones is neglecting the American ideals of education and logical reasoning. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Americans pride themselves on being one of the most educated countries in the world and a people group that promotes education worldwide. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">We can't be the role models of this world if our basic principles are being shaken by distasteful actions that brood hate. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Most people strive to make decisions with clarity and logic. Jones, self-admittedly, has "no experience with the Quran whatsoever." <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">And yet he has chosen to burn a book that is, to many, sacred and religious, without even reading the book to determine if it is truly full of lies as he claims. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">He is making the decision to ignite the already tenuous American-Middle Eastern relations based on emotions, ignorance and a sickening neglect for the truth. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Finally, Jones is putting Americans in danger. Fox News points out how extremist Muslim groups are handling the purposeful insult to the Quran -- and it is not pretty. Riots are already taking place in the Middle East and individuals have already come forward stating intent to become martyrs for their cause. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Experts believe that Jones' extremist behavior has put American soldiers abroad and even his own congregation in harm's way. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">To this, Jones denies the danger to American troops and others, while simultaneously carrying a .40-caliber pistol with him. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Jones has the right to protest and he doesn't have to agree with the Quran. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">However, his actions seem to be more about hate for a people group than support for his beliefs. After all, his own Christian beliefs were the exact tenets that brought about America's founding. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Ironically, Jones is not just anti-Islamic. His actions show that he is anti-American, too. Jones' actions, as narrow-minded, selfish and ignorant as they are, are representing America whether we agree to it or not. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">We know that America's principles are deeply rooted in tolerance. And we know that Christian values -- in their truest form-- are based on Christ's message of mercy, love and forgiveness. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">The disconnect between Jones' actions and what Jones' savior teaches provides for a massive example of hypocrisy. <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">His actions should be stopped before they mark the face of our foundationally tolerant country.

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