Years ago there was a well-known writer whose opinions appeared in some big magazines. After I read enough of his articles, his very name would give me goose bumps. I knew that if I read his latest essay I would either get scared or I would get very angry. He had a distinctive writer voice; it sounded like he was shouting. He wrote mostly about the Palestinians, presenting them as a nation of evil brutes, daily threatening the existence of helpless Israel. I finally realized that fear (not peace in the Middle East) was the product he was selling.
Lately this man’s tribe has increased. There are many messengers, some who are afraid and others who are professional messengers, making a career of selling fear. The creation of all sorts of modern communication systems has made it possible to terrify the world whether or not there is danger. Terror in the form of words is the latest type of trash littering the internet, newsstands and even our book stores. And the trash itself is a serious threat to our hopes for peace, because nothing will make people fight more quickly, more desperately, than fear.
Because of this, it is imperative that we learn how to be discerning about what we hear and read. Be sure that I am not the all-wise one who can tell you how to protect yourself from fear-mongering, but I have a few suggestions based on my own experience. I hope to do here three things: give two examples of the kinds of things we may read, talk about what we can do with them and then name the strategies involved.
Example A
On the website of Middle East Forum (from their invitation to a conference) I found these words: “Orlando is but the latest attack by violent jihadis: since 2010, 96 individuals have been killed in 19 Islamist terror attacks on American soil. At the same time, nonviolent Islamists exploit our freedoms to undermine from within – slowly chipping away at the rule of law, freedom of expression, free enterprise, and religious pluralism.”
Let’s think about this. Read it again if you need to.
What is your reaction to it?
What part of it can you believe? What questions might you ask?
Notice that the first statement can be verified. You can google it and find the numbers or not. I did.
Then see that the second statement is all scary, unprovable accusations.
Realize that the author has pulled us into these accusations by starting with something that is either solid or sounds solid. This makes us believe. Then we get the really fearful part, the things he would like us to believe, though they have no foundation.
Look at the logic of those accusations. In this instance I happen to have some experience that helps me, and I can share it with you as an example. In the late 60s our family lived in Jordan where we were part of a definite minority, a Christian community in a Muslim country. We had, though, a lot of freedom. King Hussein was a humane ruler, and he had experience with Christians that gave him confidence in the Jordanian Christian community and in the mission groups that assisted them. We could build churches, worship in these churches without harassment, have Bible studies in our homes, establish schools, move about the country and visit in homes.
Now, I ask you, Why would we exploit these freedoms in a way that undermined them when we benefitted so greatly from them? And, if neither we nor Jordanian Christians would shoot ourselves in the foot in Jordan, why would I expect Muslims in America to do that? They benefit from the freedoms in this country just as we benefitted from the freedoms in Jordan. I give them credit for having sense enough to value what serves their own interests.
Going through the details of the accusation, considering each little part, I then ask myself: Why would nonviolent Islamists want to destroy the rule of law, the law that they hope will protect them from hate and discrimination. Nonviolent people who are in danger need the law more than anyone.
And why would people who are misunderstood want to destroy the freedom of expression when they so badly need this very thing so they can speak for themselves?
And free enterprise? All over the world people have the impression that in America you can find a way to prosper—because of the freedom to start a business, do something new, meet a need you find, whatever. This is the biggest reason why people want to come here. So why would they come and then oppose the system?
The final accusation, that they want to destroy our pluralism, seems to be the silliest of all. It is true that in the Middle East any Muslim group would like to be dominant. So would Christian groups, I have noticed. Not just in the ME, but here. Everybody would like to have more power. But the destruction of pluralism would mean that minorities have no rights. Why would any small religious group want to destroy religious pluralism when it is America’s religious pluralism that allows them to exist and enjoy equal freedom and rights?
Example B
Ann Coulter has said that if Mr. Khan (the Muslim man who spoke at the Democratic Convention) gets his way, we will all be living under sharia law.
What do you think when you hear this?
The first thing I wondered was, How does Ann Coulter know what Mr. Khan wants? Does she know him well? Is she saying that he presented a false front when he held up a copy of the U.S. Constitution?
How would we verify the validity of her accusation?
Then I wondered, Does Ann Coulter even know what sharia is? This a very important question. How many people who are reading this actually know what sharia is?
This is a case in which we need some knowledge we may not have. I have recently read several books that contain information related to sharia. I recommend them to you.
1.Radical, My Journey Out of Muslim Extremism by Maajid Nawaz
In prison for his role in a radical organization that wanted an Islamic Caliphate, complete with sharia, Nawaz studied, put together what he learned and came to a startling conclusion. Read the whole book; it is a wonderful story. But if you can’t wait for the part I am talking about, go quickly to pages 190 and 191.
2.Who Speaks for Islam? by John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed is important also. The sub-title is What a Billion Muslims Really Think.
3.The Fear of Islam by Todd Green is a book that had to be written especially to help us deal with the phenomena called Islamophobia, and it explains some things about sharia.
Whether you read these books or not, I suggest that we all give a long thought to how anything becomes a law in the U.S. and then try to figure out how many Muslims it would take in a population of more than 300 million people to change the law of the land. Remember in the process that we have in the American Congress one Muslim and that Muslims are a little more than one percent of the population.
So, what will we do when we read scary articles and books?
1.Question everything
2.Research, use the simple tools at our disposal to check the facts
3.Read widely, get a bigger picture
4.Think
Doing these things is the common citizen’s contribution to peace in our country and the world.