In recent months, religious tensions between Christians and the much smaller Muslim community in the United States have become a serious concern. The extreme reaction by many people to a relatively innocuous proposal to build an Islamic community center in southern Manhattan has sparked anti-Muslim sentiment around America. The construction site of a mosque in Tennessee was attacked by arsonists, while a pastor in Florida has threatened to hold public burnings of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Global Citizens believe in universal religious tolerance, wanting a world in which people of good will from any and all religious backgrounds (including those who profess to no religious faith at all) work together for the common good of humanity. Consequently, we find the increasing anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States to be deeply disturbing.
The Islamic community center in southern Manhattan is to be called the Cordoba House, a reference to the historic city in southern Spain. During the Middle Ages, Cordoba experienced a golden age of tolerance and understanding between its Jewish, Christian, and Muslim peoples. The result was an amazing era of glorious achievements in science, poetry, philosophy, architecture, medicine, and other fields of human endeavour. People who followed the three monotheistic faiths lived together as peaceful neighbors, until their society was destroyed by religious fanatics invading the region from Christian Europe and Muslim North Africa.
Modern Americans should look to the golden age of Cordoba as an example of what their multiethnic and multireligious society could become in the 21st Century if it rejects the siren song of religious extremism and instead embraces the spirit of tolerance and understanding.
Below is a wonderful documentary, about two hours long, detailing the history of Cordoba during its heyday. Enjoy.
Two Iranian grand ayatollahs - Nasser Makarem-Shirazi and Hossein Nouri-Hamedani have called for the killing of those who insult the Koran.
ReplyDeletePerhaps these muslim leaders should look to the golden age of Cordoba as an example of what their multiethnic and multireligious society could become in the 21st Century if it rejects the siren song of religious extremism and instead embraces the spirit of tolerance and understanding.
Why don't other muslim leaders condemn these barbaric statements?
Most do, but the American media chooses not to focus its reporting on them. The media has a vested interest in stirring up these disputes, and will limit its coverage of anything which might throw a towel on them.
ReplyDeleteConsider Imam Rauf, the man behind the Cordoba House project. He has condemned Hamas (and all other terrorist groups) and has promised to make all financial contributors to the project public. But the media continues to report the story as if he has not done so. Why? Simply to keep the dispute running as long as possible, so that they may milk as much from it as they can.