Adam Luptak :: Scratches

Over the weekend, I saw an article on CNN that I just want to talk a little bit about, because quite frankly I can’t get it out of my head.

Since this is kind of a political post, I will issue a disclaimer up front – I’ve already decided that I’m supporting Sen. Obama. Having said that, that isn’t what this post is about at all – I won’t be trying to convince you that you should vote for him.

What I want to talk about is this article [source] that tells of a woman at a rally who stated, “I don’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s an Arab.”

This is what has been bothering me. For one thing, the ignorance of that statement frightens me a little bit. An Arab would be someone from, or with ancestry from, Arabia, or the Middle East as we often call it. Sen. Barack Obama is the son of a man from Kenya (which, if you’ll consult your atlases, is not in Arabia) and a white woman from Kansas (which is most definitely not in Arabia – I do hope we can all get together on that.)

I don’t know if that woman was confused about his heritage, but I suspect that she was trying to suggest that Sen. Obama is a Muslim. First of all, he is not – every respectable media outlet has fact-checked that, thanks to that rumor that keeps coming back (thank you internet) – and I was pleased that Sen. McCain was good enough to correct her. Secondly, it seems to imply that being a Muslim is somehow bad or un-American.

Now, this just makes me angry. I am not Muslim – I grew up in the Episcopal Church. But I also like to learn a little bit about the world around me, and I try not to be ignorant. And I am infuriated by this thought-process since Sept. 11th that Arab = Muslim = Terrorist.

Let’s get a few things straight. While Europe was in the midst of the “Dark Ages,” Muslims in Arabia were rediscovering and expanding upon the learnings of Classicism (Greek and Roman learning), practicing math, science, astronomy, medicine, and other disciplines at a level that it would take Europe until the Renaissance to catch up to. So let’s not hate.

Muslims are people who practice the religion of Islam. It quite literally means “submission” – submission to the God of Abraham, who they call Allah. Of the Five Pillars, which constitute the chief practices of “good” Muslims, one of them is zakat, or alms-giving. Muslims are called upon to help those less fortunate than themselves, to work to eliminate the inequalities in this world that lead to suffering. Other core beliefs include declaring their belief in Allah, praying, making pilgrimage, and fasting. If these are the marks of an evil people, I’ll be on their side, please.

People point to many violent extremist acts that are carried out in the name of Islam – the so-called Islamic Terrorists. Yes, there are terrible people who claim Islam as the reason that they do what they do. But I would ask any Christian – is the KKK a good reference for the religion you believe in? The Klan claimed Christianity and used Scripture to support their atrocities.

But let’s dig a little further. If Islam is, as I believe, a peaceful faith, practiced by 1.5 billion people, where are these extremists coming from? The poorest places on earth, generally. There are rich extremists, yes. Osama Bin Laden comes from a very wealthy family. In some of the poorest countries – where the populace is generally impoverished and the government lacks either the means or the will to provide education, medical care, or food for the hungry, these rich extremists are the ones filling the need. In Three Cups of Tea (see my previous post), Greg Mortenson relates seeing radical madrassas pop up in the rural highlands of Pakistan, and hears accounts of wealthy men from Saudi Arabia coming with suitcases of cash to build them. Extremist ideologies take hold in these places because, frankly, no one else is helping the people out – the hand that feeds you, educates you, and keeps your family alive will ultimately be the hand that affects your view of the world.

And one last thing – yes, Sen. Barack Obama’s middle name is Hussein. It’s not just the last name of Iraq’s former leader. It’s an incredibly common name with many spellings, depending on region and varying over the centuries. So if I could stop seeing forwarded emails and internet comments about “Barack HUSSEIN Obama” (as if a middle name that was given to him is somehow proof that he “hates freedom”), that would be fantastic.

So this is my plea – please, please, let’s calm down and learn a little bit about the world around us. And maybe we can even extend a helping hand and take a stab at fixing the root problems that have lead to so much intolerance, hatred, and death.

(P.S. I think it’s worth reading Campbell Brown’s commentary on the issue. It certainly bears repeating.)