Days of Interfaith Youth Service

April 19th and 20th marks the 5th annual Days of Interfaith Youth Service, held in Washington D.C. by the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. Worldwide, these days are led by the Interfaith Youth Core of Chicago. Engage in service, dialog, and have fun making friends with peers of different faiths. Students looking for school community service hours are also welcome to attend. Habitat for Humanity will be there, allowing volunteers to help with a local construction project. Also, there will be a tree planting sponsored by the Earth Conservation corps on Sunday from 2-6. Space is limited for this event, so sign up as soon as possible. Click here for more information.

Are Americans Learning Hate from the Pulpit?

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

My last blog post spoke about Muslim Americans and the discrimination that they face in America. As I quoted, the cover story of USA Today on August 9, 2006 reported that:

Thirty-nine percent of respondents to the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll said they felt at least some prejudice against Muslims. The same percentage favored requiring Muslims, including U.S. citizens, to carry a special ID "as a means of preventing terrorist attacks in the United States." About one-third said U.S. Muslims were sympathetic to al-Qaeda, and 22% said they wouldn't want Muslims as neighbors.

And actions speak louder than words. According to 2005 Hate Crime Statistics released by the US Department of Justice, anti-Islamic hate crimes were the second most prevalent type of hate crime reported last year. Although the worst wave of violence against Muslims and Arabs subsided three months after September 11, the FBI reports a significant rise in hate crimes against these two groups compared to before 9/11.

And these numbers continue to steadily rise. According to a 2005 report on the Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States, published by the Center on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the number of incident reports of civil rights cases in 2004 rose 49-percent compared with reported cases in 2003 and marked the highest number of cases reported to CAIR in their eleven year history.

Where do we learn this hate? An article in the November 8, 2006 St. Louis Today points out that we might just be getting it from the pulpit.

The Rev. David Clippard, executive director the Missouri Baptist Covention, a fellowship of 2,000 Baptist congregations, spoke at their annual conference last week and "chose to fan the flames of intolerance and fear." Amidst applause and cheers he declared to the 1,200 convention delegates:

"Today, Islam has a strategic plan to defeat and occupy America. They are after your sons and daughters... Your freedon is on the floor with their foot on it, with their sword raised, and if you don't convert, your head comes off."

This is only one example of what has become a prevalent trend in temples of all forms of faith traditions.These messages of hate are perhaps the most frightening because of the weight that they carry. Congregants give respect to their clergy and respect to the pulpit, and when a leader of a faith community stands before a congregation and preaches hate, people listen. When those sermons are met with applause and cheers, the clergy continue to spread their message.

The American public must speak up and protest such messages. When individuals hear their spiritual leader spreading such messages, they must voice their opinions or write their concerns-- they must express their disapproval. They must make it very clear that those are not the type of messages they want preached. If the message is not heard, more congregants should be encouraged to voice their concerns. Messages of hate should never be tolerated.

The media often refers to political tensions as "religious wars" or "the clash of civilizations." Let us not get confused by the rhetoric. These wars are most often political wars fought over governmental and economic factors. They only become religious wars when we allow our religious leaders to teach us hate.

Let us not allow hate to be preached from our pulpits.

The Burden on Muslim Americans

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

On September 11, 2006 approximately 200 individuals from a myriad of faith and cultural traditions came together for the second 9/11 Unity Walk (the first in New York City). The walk began in Union Square Park at the Gandhi statue with a celebration of the centennial of Gandhian nonviolence and ended at the World Trade Center with a memorial for the victims of the September 11th tragedies. The message was one of peace, love, hope and unity.

Throughout the closing ceremony in St. Peter's Cathedral in downtown Manhattan I watched with a sense of awe and inspiration as one religious leader after another stepped forward to deliver a prayer or message of peace. As the Muslim representatives stood, I felt their extra burden as they tried to grieve along with their fellow attendants at the horrors of that day while trying to grapple with the discrimination they now face as a result. When a representative of the Sikh faith rose to deliver his message, he moved the audience, recounting the violence Sikhs have also faced since September 11th by individuals believing them to be Muslims. The first victim fell only five days after the planes hit.

As he spoke I could not help but look at some of the Muslims sitting around me and wonder what they must have been feeling at that very moment. What must it feel like to live with the knowledge that not only would someone harm you purely based on your faith tradition, but that others have been killed because someone believed them to be like you? Is it really possible for a group of people to live with the burden placed on them by the American public?

Thirty-nine percent of respondents to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll said they felt at least some prejudice against Muslims. The same percentage favored requiring Muslims, including U.S. citizens, to carry a special ID "as a means of preventing terrorist attacks in the United States." About one-third said U.S. Muslims were sympathetic to al-Qaeda, and 22% said they wouldn't want Muslims as neighbors.

That burden is taking its toll. According to a study of 611 adults by Mona Amer of the Yale University School of Medicine, about half of Arab-Americans had symptoms of clinical depression, an impressive number compared to the 20% in an average U.S. group.

However, the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll also indicates that Muslims in America might be treated better if Americans knew them. 58% of respondents said that they had never met a Muslim, and those who did know Muslims felt a lot better about them.

On November 16, 2006 The People Speak is going to host an online discussion of Muslim-American college students from all across the country to confront these issues and many more. You can post your question or comment any time before or during the November 16 chat.

(Please note: you must be a registered user of The People Speak site to participate in the forum. Register online today.)