Common Ground
With my deadline passed, I've returned to Waleed Aly's stimulatin' book People Like Us. (Life is busy. If your time is limited, read the chapter "Women as a Battlefield".) These online dust-ups are such a terrific excuse opportunity to borrow far too many library books learn stuff. :)
As you know, my goal in these postings is to disagree respectfully with Elizabeth Moon's posting about Park51. Now, it's a long posting, and Ms Moon spends the first part of it setting out her ideas about good citizenship - stuff which many of us will agree with; it's the second part that's problematic. But as I've gobbled data, I've repeatedly come across Muslim commentators agreeing with some of the things she says in the second bit - or at least expressing similar views.
For example, Ms Moon stated: "A group must grasp that if its non-immigrant members somewhere else are causing people a lot of grief (hijacking planes and cruise ships, blowing up embassies, etc.) it is going to have a harder row to hoe for awhile, and it would be prudent (another citizenly virtue) to a) speak out against such things without making excuses for them and b) otherwise avoid doing those things likely to cause offence."
Well, there are plenty of things in that sentence that I would argue don't really add up. But Waleed Aly is also criticial of "...the seemingly incurable tendency, with several notable exceptions, for Muslim condemnations of terrorism to be expressed in conditional language. Certainly terrorism is to be condemned, but not without using the opportunity to make a political point or two about the war in Iraq... Muslim spokespeople who pursue this discourse only hours after a terrorist attack, in the raw aftermath of the killing, are blissfully unaware of how their words sound to their audience." (pp 45-46)
Muslims living in the West are surrounded by hostility. In large part, this is thanks to bullshit (ranging from uninformed nonsense to lies) from politicians, the media, and the pulpit. Aly and others argue that some Muslim commentators have also added fuel to the fire. But should Muslims be expected to assuage the baseless fears and prejudices of their fellow American or Australian citizens?
I'd argue that no, it's their neighbours' responsibility. But some Muslims would say yes - at least to some degree. For example, in the short documentary White, Welsh and Muslim, Omer Williams (who wonderfully describes his beard as his 'furry hijab') says:"I've met some Muslims with beards two, three times longer than mine, and they're awful. Obnoxious and rude. And I'm thinking, no, looking as Muslim as you do, you should be even more careful, because you're ambassadors."
Williams himself, as a white convert with "one foot in each camp", feels "the weight of the world on his shoulders".
I doubt Aly or Williams would find much to agree with in Ms Moon's posting (tbh I'm sure they'd be infuriated by it); but for me, it's encouraging that there is some common ground.
Damn it, I've been trying to come up with a brilliant closing line to sum it all up for about fifteen minutes. You'll have to write one yourself.
ETA: After a good night's sleep, my point is more obvious to me. :) Plenty of people share Ms Moon's views. How might we persuade them to change their minds? One way is by providing facts which counter mistaken beliefs and assumptions; and another is by addressing legitimate grievances. Plus, acknowledging that Ms Moon's posting is a curate's egg is a step in the direction of a nuanced debate that looks for solutions, rather than a slanging match between sides.
ETA: Found comments from a chap railing against his fellow American Muslims for not isolating themselves - and yet who also says: "If people view us as foreigners, it's not because everybody is an evil racist. It's because sometimes we're presenting ourselves that way. We have to look at ourselves with a critical eye!"
As you know, my goal in these postings is to disagree respectfully with Elizabeth Moon's posting about Park51. Now, it's a long posting, and Ms Moon spends the first part of it setting out her ideas about good citizenship - stuff which many of us will agree with; it's the second part that's problematic. But as I've gobbled data, I've repeatedly come across Muslim commentators agreeing with some of the things she says in the second bit - or at least expressing similar views.
For example, Ms Moon stated: "A group must grasp that if its non-immigrant members somewhere else are causing people a lot of grief (hijacking planes and cruise ships, blowing up embassies, etc.) it is going to have a harder row to hoe for awhile, and it would be prudent (another citizenly virtue) to a) speak out against such things without making excuses for them and b) otherwise avoid doing those things likely to cause offence."
Well, there are plenty of things in that sentence that I would argue don't really add up. But Waleed Aly is also criticial of "...the seemingly incurable tendency, with several notable exceptions, for Muslim condemnations of terrorism to be expressed in conditional language. Certainly terrorism is to be condemned, but not without using the opportunity to make a political point or two about the war in Iraq... Muslim spokespeople who pursue this discourse only hours after a terrorist attack, in the raw aftermath of the killing, are blissfully unaware of how their words sound to their audience." (pp 45-46)
Muslims living in the West are surrounded by hostility. In large part, this is thanks to bullshit (ranging from uninformed nonsense to lies) from politicians, the media, and the pulpit. Aly and others argue that some Muslim commentators have also added fuel to the fire. But should Muslims be expected to assuage the baseless fears and prejudices of their fellow American or Australian citizens?
I'd argue that no, it's their neighbours' responsibility. But some Muslims would say yes - at least to some degree. For example, in the short documentary White, Welsh and Muslim, Omer Williams (who wonderfully describes his beard as his 'furry hijab') says:"I've met some Muslims with beards two, three times longer than mine, and they're awful. Obnoxious and rude. And I'm thinking, no, looking as Muslim as you do, you should be even more careful, because you're ambassadors."
Williams himself, as a white convert with "one foot in each camp", feels "the weight of the world on his shoulders".
I doubt Aly or Williams would find much to agree with in Ms Moon's posting (tbh I'm sure they'd be infuriated by it); but for me, it's encouraging that there is some common ground.
Damn it, I've been trying to come up with a brilliant closing line to sum it all up for about fifteen minutes. You'll have to write one yourself.
ETA: After a good night's sleep, my point is more obvious to me. :) Plenty of people share Ms Moon's views. How might we persuade them to change their minds? One way is by providing facts which counter mistaken beliefs and assumptions; and another is by addressing legitimate grievances. Plus, acknowledging that Ms Moon's posting is a curate's egg is a step in the direction of a nuanced debate that looks for solutions, rather than a slanging match between sides.
ETA: Found comments from a chap railing against his fellow American Muslims for not isolating themselves - and yet who also says: "If people view us as foreigners, it's not because everybody is an evil racist. It's because sometimes we're presenting ourselves that way. We have to look at ourselves with a critical eye!"