Paranoia about Muslims

There was an article in the Dayton Daily News the other day about a panel discussion at United Theological Seminary. One panelist was Rabbi Brad Hirschfield. I've written before about his book You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. 

 During the discussion he said, "There are more people dying in the name of religion today than since the Crusades." 

Religion is of two kinds: healthy and sick. It's the sick religion that motivates peoples to kill or hurt other people in the name of God. There are sick forms of Christianity, just as there are sick forms of Islam.

I'm concerned about all the paranoia about Muslims that I read on the internet. People are always forwarding stuff to me that's written by who-knows-who about how the Muslims are going to take over our country, and how all Muslims secretly hate America and Christians. Yes, there are extremist Muslims who follow a sick version of Islam just as there are extremist Christians who follow a sick, violent version of Christianity. But there is also a healthy version of Islam, which is open to Western culture and modernization. Too much generalizing about the sick version of religion gives all religions a bad name.

Rabbi Hirschfield said, "A fanatic is anyone who thinks they are 100 percent right about 100 percent of reality 100 percent of the time." He went on to say, "There's an important difference between being deeply committed to your point of view and being fanatical." 

I agree. As a Christian I am committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. But that doesn't mean that I can't learn from an atheist, a Buddhist or a Muslim. They might understand something that I don't. I bear witness to my belief, but I also listen to how God has impacted the lives of people in other religions, or how reality impacts an atheist.


I know there are a certain number of people in the world who are exploiting parts of the Islamic scriptures in order to impose their will on others--many of whom honestly believe that Western Culture is leading people away from God and holiness. But let's keep things in perspective. Muslims will not 'take over' America unless Americans elect Muslims to office.We give too much credit to extremists and too little credit to Americans if we pass on scenarios like these.



The forwarded emails I receive from 'Christians' just fuel the flames of hatred. Fearful and fanatical Americans scare me. Their lack of tolerance and their exaggerated claims do not make us safer. 

The problem is that we don't have Muslims who are friends or co-workers. The best thing we Christians could do is to make friends with real Muslim people in our towns and cities. Get to know them. Listen to their concerns about their children's health and education.Watch them love each other. Observe them working for the good of society. See them bow down to pray. Learn about their experience of God. See them as real people, not caricatures. A group from a church I served took a tour of the mosque north of Cincinnati and was able to listen to real American Muslims and ask questions and learn about their beliefs.



Rabbi Hirschfield said, "Anyone who loves faith [I would say 'loves God'] needs to figure out how to use faith to heal the polarization and address the fanaticism." 


It's one thing to be concerned about extremists and take precautions. It's another thing to paint a whole population of people with a broad brush and bear false witness.


Muslims interpret their scriptures in different ways just as Christians do. Only a small portion of those who practice Islam read their scriptures as the extremists do.