This I must say is an ugly story but its ugliness, I’m afraid, is rooted in a kind of fear that continues to mar the sensibilities of the multi-religious, multi-ethnic landscape of America. The following are extracts for the news article in TPMMuckraker about how a church in Florida sets out to "commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks":
“On September 11, members of the Dove World Outreach Center -- a Gainesville, Florida church -- plan to burn copies of the Koran to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The protest is just the latest in a series of provocative actions from the self-described "New Testament Church," which seems as interested in getting attention as it is in sharing the Word with the world.”
"The church, which was founded in 1986, has long been controversial in Gainesville. The Koran-burning protest is just the latest in a string of high-profile "protests on other issues, such as homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and abortion," Religion News Service reports. But it seems clear that taking on Muslims is the one of the church's central goals."
“The church's leader, Dr. Terry Jones -- who before heading up the Dove World Outreach Center ran a sister church in Cologne, Germany -- has published a book entitled "Islam is of the Devil" and last year posted a large sign outside his church that offered passing commuters the same message. Last year, members sent their kids to public schools wearing "Islam Is Of The Devil" t-shirts (the students were sent home, creating more headlines.) The church's website features a number of videos where Jones takes on Islam as...well, you can probably guess.”
To being with, the attackers of 9/11 do not represent the Muslim population in America, neither for that matter, do they represent the ideals of the holy Qu'ran. In reacting to the 9/11 man-made disaster in this manner, the church is sending out a true message of intolerance and hatred not just to the attackers but more than that to the larger Muslim community who continue to practise the faith in accordance to the sacred text.
The question then is, is this the true face of liberalism in America in the 21st century? If so, this is the very type of liberalism that Jacob Levy appears to contest in his book The Multiculturalism of Fear. Levy defines liberalism as “centrally concerned with preventing political violence, cruelty and institutional humiliation”. The face of liberalism depicted in the above article signals a very 'cruel', 'violent' and 'humiliating' image of where inter ethnic, inter-religious relations stands in present day America.
My take on this is that the continued 'Islam-a-phobia' which we see in today’s America is rooted largely in the politics of fear that is perpetuated by certain political and public figures who manipulate the general population’s ignorance and fear to their advantage. If this type of manipulation is not "counselled", to quote Levy, Christian America, as seen through the actions of this Florida church, will continue to create a an image of itself as a people that are ignorant and thoughtless of anything or anyone other that its own. And this attitude which represented the standing order in the early years of this millennium will create an even bigger gulf both within the multi-ethnic, multi-religious nation and with the international world.
As Levy aptly states,
“The multiculturalism of fear counsels against spending our time trying to define what it is in cultures that we respect or recognise. The political actors being asked to judge, respect and recognise belong to cultures of their own and may be all too ready to take advantage of the paradox of standards in order to reject the cultures of others. But if the finding that a particular person does not command our respect does not license cruelty to that person , how much less does the finding that his or her culture does not command that respect.”
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