Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Fri, Jan 05 2007
Muslims in America: Finding a way to grow
LA Weekly gave us a fascinating recent look at Maher Hathout's work among Southern California's American Muslim population. Muslims in America seem to be seeking their place as they position themselves among other people in a country that has been, for the most part, abruptly introduced to major Middle East religions through violence by religious extremists.
I've often thought that the terrorist events of 9/11 were ultimately not so much about the American government or the American people as they were about the failure of certain extremist Muslims to allow themselves to bend and grow in ways that would allow strong faith to propel them into the future. Their crude terrorism on 9/11 did much more harm to the Muslim communities everywhere than to Americans in general. It may take Maher Hathout, and others like him, a very long time to learn to speak and act in ways that convince the rest of us all that there is something positive that could come from having a strong Muslim population in our midst. Unfortunately, they're having to do it while the extremists' hatred for them grows and while the patience of non-Muslim Americans is tested on a daily basis.
posted at: 09:30 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
LA Weekly gave us a fascinating recent look at Maher Hathout's work among Southern California's American Muslim population. Muslims in America seem to be seeking their place as they position themselves among other people in a country that has been, for the most part, abruptly introduced to major Middle East religions through violence by religious extremists.
I've often thought that the terrorist events of 9/11 were ultimately not so much about the American government or the American people as they were about the failure of certain extremist Muslims to allow themselves to bend and grow in ways that would allow strong faith to propel them into the future. Their crude terrorism on 9/11 did much more harm to the Muslim communities everywhere than to Americans in general. It may take Maher Hathout, and others like him, a very long time to learn to speak and act in ways that convince the rest of us all that there is something positive that could come from having a strong Muslim population in our midst. Unfortunately, they're having to do it while the extremists' hatred for them grows and while the patience of non-Muslim Americans is tested on a daily basis.
posted at: 09:30 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
