Religious Intolerance in the U.S.
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-09-09/religious-intolerance-us
The history of religious and racial intolerance in the U.S.: Diane and guests explore what's changed and what hasn't nine years after the 9/11 attacks and discuss current concerns over what some are calling an anti-Muslim frenzy.
Guests
Barry Lynn
executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and author of "Piety & Politics" (Harmony Books)
Robert Destro
professor of law,
director, Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion
Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Azizah al-Hibri
professor of law, University of Richmond
founder and chair, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights
Andrew Kohut
director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Comments
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I would like us to begin discussing the TYPE of behavior in general that the Koran-burning minister displays, rather than his particular actions.
We have seen an increase in polarization in this country that is very frightening. It seems to grow after attention-getting speech or acts such as this.
Perhaps the Koran-burning will finally be the spark that gets people to see how irresponsibly fractious this nation is becoming.
We Americans prize our freedom of speech, but we also realize we cannot cry "fire" in a crowded theater.
How can we encourage people to CHOOSE not to risk a greater cultural conflagration by their words and actions?
Should we hand out the equivalent of a Peace Prize for restraint?
(And perhaps we can also teach the audience of such actions to look for the motives of these people, not just taking them at face value?)
This is a frustrated child seeking attention. Burning the Quran is not a religious act.
His cognitive development is severely retarded. cause and effect is first seen in toddlers. Its development is a marker of maturity. He has the basic concept, but views it in an egocentric world.
This often happens when children lose a parent. They never mature beyond the age of the childhood trauma.
He cannot be reasoned with,
He is to be pitied.
He is also a high suicide risk.
Emotionally he is at a level between 3 and 7.
l believe he may respond, when spoken to as a child.
Americans regarding the perpetrators of 9/11 as Muslims is equivalent to Muslims regarding those threatening to burn the Koran as Christians. Neither represents what these religions truly teach. Both assailants are simply misguided souls with disturbed minds. Sadly, the press (not DRSHOW, one of the few thoughtful news programs on the air) fuels the flame these sick minorities ignite and incites unnecessary hatred between two of the great religions of the world.
Those Floridians should have been simply ignored. They are not worthy of the attention of anyone.
I agree, the burning of the Koran is wrong and should not take place. But where is the Muslim outrage about the burning of buildings full of people? Where is the outrage over the burning of the American Flag at every Muslim protest?
Why is such a small group getting such media attention? Aren't we further enabling their behaviour? I believe this action is merely a publicity stunt. if they burn a few copies of the Koran, it is not like the religion of Islam will be damaged or cease to exist. Thank you for taking my comments.
This is only news because some news source choose to cover it initially and then everyone else jumped on the bandwagon. If the 1st source would have ignored him would he have stopped or gone away?
What role/responsibility does the press have in its coverage of people like Mr. Jones?
I live in Gainesville. This man is well known locally for his incendiary (pun intended) stunts. His 'church' has between 25 and 50 members, probably closer to the former than the latter. It is not a very small church. If you want to describe it, it's a tiny, tiny group. It is more of a cult than a church. Mr. Jones thrives on attention. Each attempt has been met carefully and put down quietly in Gainesville. How did his latest publicity stunt get so out of hand?
There are certainly comparisons from previous trends of intolerance in our society but I think the press has a responsibility to tell the story with more balance.
In the beginning of this, Mr. Jones was treated as if he had some real standing and credibility. A short bit of research would have revealed him for what he is. I suspect this would not have been such a firestorm if the press had been more thorough in its initial coverage.
Racism, religious intolerance and hatred of the 'other' will always be with us so we all have to exercise responsibility in facing these baser instincts rather than encouraging them.
Why are we so timorous? Free speech is not an absolute right. This is clearly hate speech and equivalent to calling fire in a crowded theatre. The man should be stopped by civil authorities.
The popular concern about a Catholic president dates back to the 1920's when Al Smith was unable to muster sufficient support to be nominated.
I am going to buy a copy of the Koran, read it and then donate it to our Public Library. I suggest all Americans do this to show our disdain for the religious intolerance demonstrated by the Florida clergyman.
I do not agree with what the minister in Florida is doing, but I do have questions about some of the practices of Islam. I know several women who were Muslim who wanted to convert to Christianity and they feared for their lives. Countries that adhere to Islam deny their citizens freedom of religion, not to mention many other freedoms that we in the West take for granted.
Some of the discrimination you are seeing may be discomfort with the perceived lack of human rights granted to Muslims by their own religion.
Whether the Koran is or is not burned on 9/11, will not change how radical muslems view or act towards America. There will still be terrorist attacks. I do think the media is responsible for this being blown out of proportion. This is a small group/church that wouldn't make a dent in local politics if it were not for all the media hype.
While I do believe there is and always has been religious intolerance in this country, I strongly urge the media to back away from this whole Quran burning story. The real story is that this crazy man has only convinced 50 or so people to believe as he does that Islam is the devil despite 9/11.
There will always be crazy people in this country doing crazy things - doesn't mean we should lift them up into the public spotlight and give any credence to their behavior. I hope that not a single news outlet will videotape this offensive burning, because that footage will do as much damage to our reputation as the US Flag burning and dancing in the street after 9/11 videos did for the Muslim world in the eyes of the Americans. neither is a true representation of how an entire country feels and is irresponsible journalism.
If after this publicity stunt, this tiny group of 50 people grows into a large movement - the only ones to blame will be the media for covering this nonsense. If it wasn't for the constant coverage of this for the last week, none of us would have ever even heard of that church in Florida and the media-manufactured "anti-Muslim frenzy" would be nonexistent.
I just wanted to comment on those who constantly say " where is the muslim anger". Well, many of us are ANGRY!!! We are AGAINST those who kill in the name of Islam and we are AGAINST those who killed innocent people on 9/11. Okay, now that i have said that keep in mind that this is just one voice in a billion who practice the religion. As this mad man in Florida does not represent Christians; crazy homicidal jihadist do not represent me and millions of other muslims. At some point, we all have to move forward.
The minister is a nutcase, but what other religion would erupt in a world-wide revenge over a book burning? Would it be the same tolerant one that murders cartoonists that depict their figureheads? Etc.
The professor states that African slaves were Muslim. From everything we know about the Islamic diaspora, this cannot be true--or if it is, there would be an incredibly small minority of Africans that were Islamic at the time of slave importation. At the time of the slave trade, most Africans were animists or practiced other indigenous religions that were non-monotheistic.
In fact, Muslim slave traders were key to the Portuguese slave trade, helping round up what they considered savages, and holding them in prisons on Africa's west coast for slave ships to come and pick them up.
Pretending that Islam in America predates the founding of our country doesn't help our understanding of history. It is true that Jefferson was very intrigued with the study of religion--but there is no supporting evidence to indicate that any of his slaves were Islamic in origin.
Brattleboro, VT
This reminds me a lot of crackergate, but with the poles reversed.
I could go on for a while, but my main comments are:
The USA over time has claimed national security to stop or eliminate obstacles, do it with the church in Florida.
Burning any book smells of Hitler Germany, some association they have.
The right to learn about or believe in any god or religion is what we hold in highest regard, including my right not to believe in any god.
Where are all the concepts of turning cheek, casting the first stone, and a book full of other things we all learned as children.
Thank you,
David Mercer
N/W Ohio
These types of actions much be looked at as terrorism.
It is time to stop these types of racist, hateful, destructive, hurtful actions.
Yes it is a national security issue.
It is horrific as an African American facing these atrocities daily and it sure doesnt feel better watching others having to go through it also.
The true majority - It's time to stand up and speak up. It is time.
I read on Yahoo that the church had applied for a burning permit and was denied. Per haps the Fire Marshall can shut down the bonfire if no one else can!
I was born and raised in Detroit. We don't view Islam as being about religion. It is just part of the lives of people we know. If you want to build a mosque in Detroit, the only question is the decibels of the call to prayer.
There are tons of Arabs who do not follow Islam and have suffered at the hands of Muslims. They would spit on the Koran. There are some who would just as well burn bibles.
What the world needs to understand is this is the US. We can have all kinds of attitudes and express them. If you can get a burning permit, you can burn what you want.
I would like to know why what this man is planning to do is not considered a hate crime. Thank you.
As I have listened I wanted to be sure we return to the fact that this man who plans the burning represents no one but himself and his very limited followers (now I heard at 50). This is not a Christian response - it is the response of a radical, unstable man and our freedom of speech includes an exception ("yelling fire in a crowed theatre" as an example). Why does this not apply?
There's a curious reluctance -- to a lesser extent perhaps on the DR Show, but nonetheless problematical -- to discuss the media's role in stirring up some of the biggest problems we are dealing with and with which the DR Show itself has dealt over the past decade.
If Florida applies a burning ordinance in Florida, we should be thinking about how we can deal with irresponsibility on the part of "news" corporations.
Talk about screaming "fire" in a combustible theatre jammed with people! Just because their irresponsibility raises tough issues, we can't beg off confronting it before it does even more damage.
Buring the Koran seems like a peaceful demonstration against Islamic Extremisism. They blow up things and kill people; he burns a Koran. Going forward it might continue to be a good way to retaliate against the terrorists.
Also, the muslims in the U.S. need to be able let the Koran be burned if they truely want to assimilate into America. Christian symbols have been descrated innumerable times in the past in thenameof art and freedom of speech. Remember the Virgin Mary made out of Elephant Dung or the crucifix emmersed in urine?
Speaking as an evangelical pastor, thank you for opposing an embarassing human tendency in religion toward immaturity and ignorance. I do wish, however, you would note the widespread opposition in the evangelical world to this tiny church's action. Otherwise you reinforce an unfair secularist view that the conservative Church is full of ignoramii.
Comment on calming the fears of the fearful public:
For 500 years African Americans have proven that we are human, diverse, dynamic, gifted, talented etc., but as we see the fears have not changed.
No one can change the minds of those who are basking in fear of Blacks, Muslims, Native Americans, whatever.. Those minds are ill and their vision is blinded. Their ears hear nothing. 500 years of actions have not affected anything.
As we define racism as a mental illness, perhaps those affected can get the help they need.
Since this entire fear of Islam is due to 911, let us investigate it and note that Osama Bin Laden's family was the only group of people allowed to fly. Bush's brother was in charge of security in the Twin Towers. The controlled demolition viewed as a collapse demonstrates that there is a clear question as to how the towers fell, and who was truly behind it.
America - The Truth Shall Set U.S. Free.
IS THIS CHURCH JEOPARDIZING ITS TAX EXEMPT STATUS BY SUCH AN OVERT POLITICAL ACT?
I live in Gainesville. This "chuch" has been revoked of it's tax exemp status for some of the business that they run on their campus. Last year the church used children to spread the slander with "Islam is of the Devil" on the shirts they wore to school. .The church has less than 50 members. Some of the members students have been imported from out of the US and are trreated very poorly. They are kept on strict diets and are have rigid "rules" to follow.
This man, Dr. Jones is nothing more than a naricisstic sociopath. The attention that he has been granted is only fueling the fires for his ego.
One only has to look at Western Europe to see the almost total disintegration of the social network by Muslims that refuse to assimilate and have taken advantage of the semi-welfare state in that region. What makes anyone think the Muslims will change in the US. Don't we have enough stress on our social programs already to allow a targeted group to do what they have clearly done to Europe?