There is a particularly dangerous idea being pushed in the Catholic-right blogosphere that Islam is the Enemy We Fight in the war on terrorism. (Let me hasten to add that Mark Shea is (occasionally, anyway) a notable, and honorable, exception to this.)
The political right more generally, especially what I think of as the activist, “tea-party” right, is working very hard to establish this particular narrative as The Story whenever the topic is the “War on Terror.” (I have problems with even defining things that way, which I’ve described before.)
Anyway, here’s Glenn Greenwald, today:
One of the most under-reported political stories is the increasingly vehement, nationwide movement — far from Ground Zero — to oppose new mosques and Islamic community centers. These ugly campaigns are found across the country, in every region, and extend far beyond the warped extremists who are doing things such as sponsoring “Burn a Quran Day.” And now, from CBS News last night, we have this:
Fire at Tenn. Mosque Building Site Ruled Arson
[…]
Earlier this summer opponents criticized the planned mosque at hearings held by the Rutherford County Commission, as supporters held prayer vigils.
At one such prayer vigil, WTVF reported opponents speaking out against construction.
“No mosque in Murfreesboro. I don’t want it. I don’t want them here,” Evy Summers said to WTVF. “Go start their own country overseas somewhere. This is a Christian country. It was based on Christianity.”
The arsonists undoubtedly will be happy to tell you how much they hate Terrorism. And how there’s a War on Christianity underway in the U.S. The harm from these actions are not merely the physical damage they cause, but also the well-grounded fear it imposes on a minority of the American population. If you launch a nationwide, anti-Islamic campaign in Lower Manhattan based on the toxic premise that Muslims generally are responsible for 9/11 — and spend a decade expanding American wars on one Muslim country after the next — this is the inevitable, and obviously dangerous, outcome.
Well, yes.
One problem with riling up anti-Islamic feeling in this country is that it violates the American values of pluralism and tolerance. The far bigger issue is that this narrative is precisely the one that Osama Bin Laden wants to be told: namely, that there is a Clash of Civilizations between Islam and The West.
I don’t think a good strategy in defeating an ideology is accepting and enacting its core premises.
I think a good response to 9/11 would be to include a memorial on the WTC site commemorating the dead of that day, along with features designed to undermine, and decisively counter, the story Bin Laden wants to tell: some formal re-dedication to, and celebration of, the principles of religious tolerance and diversity which have always been one of America’s strengths and attractions to the rest of the world.
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