Why "Muslim American" and not "American Muslim"?

A name may not seem terribly significant, especially when referring to others. If you're a man, you may refer to women as "girls," "chicks," "broads," "gals," or "ladies." On the other hand, a woman is more likely to refer to herself as a "woman," rather than with some other label. This is because the other labels have meanings at many different levels. Is there a difference in meaning between "African American" and "American African?" There clearly is. Labels such as "American X" (fill in your favorite group "X," e.g. Jew, Asian, Gay, Italian, etc.) is that the second term often seems to assign the group an identity that implies other than American. Consider "American Hispanic," as opposed to "Hispanic American." The former signifies a Hispanic person who happens to have American citizenship, whereas the latter means an American of Hispanic origin. The former marginalizes, even if unintentionally; the latter is inclusive. So, there is also a difference in meaning between "American Muslim" and "Muslim American."

Muslims in America are, for the most part, an immigrant community coming largely from the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and the Middle East. This is changing rapidly, however, for two reasons. First, many Muslim immigrants have already raised a generation of children who were born in America. These children, many of whom are now adults, have been immersed in American culture and values their entire lives. They have been schooled in America, they participate in sports and cultural events, and they speak English fluently. They are, in every sense of the word, Americans. Most have no desire to reside in their parents' home countries, and those who visit them often feel alien to those cultures. They are also perceived as alien by those "back home," often due to weaker linguistic skills and inadequate familiarity with social customs. They are typically viewed as having less-than-pure ethnicity by the immigrant community in America and, as a result, they are often considered as lesser Muslims by the Muslim community as a whole.

Second, there is a sizeable population of Americans who have converted to Islam. Like the first group, they are Americans and they are Muslims. Many who have converted to Islam often experience the attitude that they too are lesser Muslims within the community, mostly because of their inability to speak any of the major languages like Arabic, Pashtun, Urdu, or Turkish and their total lack of familiarity with immigrant cultures. And, while it is interesting and enriching to sample different foods and customs from around the world, it is equally frustrating to be treated as children who must be taught every minute detail of "proper" eating, drinking, sitting, speaking, dressing, grooming, and worship according to someone else's cultural norms. Along those same lines, it is difficult to be told what to think about global politics, American culture, and American people. After all, our families are American people, and it is extremely unpleasant to digest daily doses of inaccurate stereotypes about them. One case in point is a speech given in a midwestern mosque in which the visiting "scholar" from "back home" informed the audience that 70% of American women are prostitutes. This is fairly exemplary of ignorant attitudes towards America and Americans, in general.

Just as perplexing is the constant bombardment of images and statements by so-called experts on Muslims, whether they are speaking of those residing inside or outside of America. The fact is that Muslim don't hate Jews and Christians. Muslims don't despise America for its freedom and ideals. Muslims don't want to return to a 7th century society. This is particularly true for Muslims living in America, no matter where they were born. It is especially true for Muslim Americans who, after all, only know life in America. Such ignorant attitudes that represent "common knowledge" about the Islamic faith and Muslim people serves to alienate the very people Americans claim they wish to bring over to the "good side." It also serves to foster an "us" versus "them" mentality that further divides people, rather than unite them for the common good. More than anyone, Muslim Americans sit between two sides of a spitting contest, belonging to both and embraced by neither.

Muslim Americans find themselves doubly marginalized by the Muslim community and the American public. Neither are "real" Muslims, nor are they "real" Americans. Labeling them as "American Muslims," meaning Muslims that just happen to have American citizenship is one way this marginalization is perpetuated. This is why the term "Muslim American" helps to build a more definitive identity that reduces alienation and includes them in mainstream America. This is a group of people who are culturally American and religiously Muslim, which presents no conflict since America is a pluralistic society comprised of peoples, religions, and ideologies from all over the world. The term "Muslim American," then, promotes an identity that affirms both religion and nationality in a way that empowers the exercise of religious and national rights and responsibilities with clarity, purpose, and conviction.

Who's Lost Touch with Reality?

There will always be competing versions of reality. In his recent article, American Liberals Have Lost Touch with Reality, “self-syndicated columnist” Steve Darnell illustrates a version of reality that is easy to lose touch with. Even though he subscribes to an apparently widely-popular version in America, it is one that is still disconnected from most of the rest of the world. Darnell’s viewpoints on the realities of war in Iraq and on the broader War on Terrorism are fairly representative of many Americans’ attitudes, though certainly not everybody’s. And when it comes to his opinion on the treatment of Muslim prisoners, he deviates as wildly from core American values as sympathizers for Muslim terrorists do from the teachings of Islam.

Darnell quotes Gen. George S. Patton, who said, “Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.” Perhaps he should take a moment to inspect his own cynicism, which exposes a deep lack of understanding of justice and American values. It begins with the use of the term “liberal” to refer to anybody that does not see reality the way he does. This wholesale brushing off of competing points of view demonstrates his inability to process others’ arguments, leaving him only with worn out slogans, labels, and quotes to sustain his views.

Darnell’s main axe to grind with liberals is their objection to recent comments made by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who expressed his pleasure with killing on the battlefield. A fuller rendering of Mattis’ quote, however, shows the nature of what was objected to by many, including Mattis’ own commander, Marine Corps Gen. Mike Hagee, who counseled Mattis for his comments. This is because it was not Mattis’ enjoyment of his work that others found so upsetting; it was his characterization of those he killed as “guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." Incidentally, Mattis also apologized and conceded that he should have chosen his words more carefully.

Nevertheless, Darnell goes on to build a straw-“person” argument that he then easily blows over with a load of hot air. This argument goes something like this: Liberals are out of touch because they took issue with Mattis’ depiction of Iraqi and Afghani enemy combatants described above. At issue is the underlying presumption that every Muslim enemy combatant must subscribe to the oppression of women, which automatically excuses any brutality perpetrated upon them by American soldiers. By definition, Americans are right. By definition, soldiers kill. By definition, anybody opposing America is wrong and deserves to be killed. By definition, anybody who disagrees with the above is out of touch with reality. Liberals disagree; ergo liberals are out of touch with reality. Can you smell the hay?

A second claim made by Darnell is that Muslim prisoners, whether held in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, or elsewhere are “murderers and thugs.” He concludes that he does “not care how inhumanely we treat” them. What he fails to address is the fact that many of these prisoners have been released over the past two years, without charge. So, we can conclude that anybody who has been released must not be a murderer or a thug. He also fails to mention that almost every released prisoner bears physical, emotional, and psychological scars from being tortured by American soldiers. While, taking precautions while sorting out dangerous criminals is one thing, caging everybody like “rabid dogs” for years on end without charge is something else. It is un-American. It belies the principle of being innocent until proven guilty. It not only violates American law, it also violates international law. The United Nations has said so. The U.S. Supreme Court has arrived at this opinion also. They all must be cynical, out-of-touch liberals, too.

Darnell’s glorious knockout blow against his liberal straw-person is to equate liberal objections to killing and abusing potential terrorists with objections to putting women’s underwear on detainees’ heads. While he finds it amusing to recruit Victoria’s Secret and Frederick’s of Hollywood in the war on terror, he belittles the underlying crisis of disgraceful American practices in the execution of this war. American military and economic might do not make America right, especially when America does not practice what America preaches.

It is just a little out of touch with reality to believe it is right to promote freedom to a population by unlawfully invading and occupying their country. It is slightly out of touch with reality to try to teach the meaning of liberty by murdering or imprisoning civilians because they might be dangerous. One must certainly be out of touch with reality to justify torture as a lesson in democracy. And if all of this is acceptable in Mr. Darnell’s version of reality, then many of us choose to remain outside of it altogether.

Does Islam Belong in America?

Commentator for WorldNetDaily, Craige McMillan, portrays the foreign cultural practices of Muslims living or coming from outside the United States as being against American values, which he erroneously holds synonymous with Islam and Christianity, respectively. In his article Why Islam Does Not Belong in America, he makes a few statements that deserve addressing, for his edification as well as that of his readers.

McMillan errs in his introduction, saying: "The culture of the Western world grew out of Christian values." On the contrary, Western culture stems largely from pagan Greek, Roman, Germanic, and Norse cultures, which manifest themselves in common religious practices like December 25th, Easter, Christmas trees, and Easter eggs, not to mention most Western languages and Democracy itself.

He goes on with: "Today, there is another culture vying for America’s attention." He is referring to Islamic Culture, which is as meaningless a phrase as Christian Culture, which is markedly different in every single country where it is practiced, including within the West. After all, hasn’t a large part of the history of Western Civilization, particularly from Constantine through World War II, been about the Christian West warring with itself, pulling large parts of the world into the argument? Furthermore, the Church has not usually been a great peacemaker in the process. So, which Christian values and which Western Culture are we speaking of?

We should never confuse religion with culture, especially when speaking about the cultures of the adherents of major world religions. This is because local cultural norms influence religious practices. Christianity is followed worldwide, yet a Christian American would not recognize every practice inside a church in Mexico, Norway, Korea, or South Africa. Nor do we equate stereotypical or abhorrent Italian, Dutch, or Ukrainian social behavior with Christianity. Similarly, Judaism is practiced very differently in Israel than in Ethiopia, Europe, or America. Israeli culture does not define Judaism, nor does every Jewish person in the world behave like an Israeli.

In this vein, Islam practiced by Muslim Americans tends to highlight American cultural values rather than those of Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, or China. This is particularly true of Americans who convert to Islam. That is not to say every country follows a different religion with totally different beliefs and practices from every other country; they just practice their religion within the context of their local culture. And, yes, in some instances, local culture over there is at variance with American culture.

McMillan momentarily focuses on the tragic killing of a Coptic Christian family in Newark, initially thought to be in retaliation for inflammatory comments by the father against Islam on the Internet, but yet to be deemed a hate crime by local authorities, much less a "ritual Islamic murder." McMillan blames the media for not making the obvious connection to fit his worldview. However, if McMillan were interested in America and Western Culture, he would have more respect for due process, innocence until proof of guilt, and other hallmarks of the American justice system. Whoever the killers are, and McMillan could very well be right, they should be arrested, indicted, prosecuted, defended, and sentenced according to the American legal system, not the opinion of the Christian right he pretends to represent. After all, America is a nation of laws, right? Who is the real threat to American culture?

From here, Craige McMillan tragically spirals into a puzzling tirade—in the following order—on beheadings in Iraq, modern university education, torture of prisoners, affirmative action, feminism, partial birth abortion, honor killings, homosexuals, leftists, mosque construction, jihadists, uneducated media, Chairman Mao, and the Vietnam War. It seems he is struggling with many demons and has difficulty distinguishing one from the other in a stream of consciousness. He loses all credibility when he throws in the kitchen sink.

Ironically, McMillan concludes that our "collective shame" lies in believing "reporters and editors too self-absorbed to ask meaningful questions, or even to report the facts." Yet, he crusades with an answer to a question nobody has asked, provides no facts in support, and demonstrates his own lack of education on the culture and religion he seeks to preserve, all the while warning us not to trust "ideologues." We should take his word for it, instead.

So, the question remains: Does Islam belong in America? Let’s start with the basics. The Muslim faith constitutes belief in: 1) One God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe; 2) His Angels, whom He created in perfect obedience to His commands; 3) His Books, including the Torah, Psalms, Gospel, and the Qur’aan; 4) His Messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, John, Jesus, and Muhammad; 5) Judgment Day, consisting of Resurrection, God’s Judgment, and Reward, whether Paradise or Hell; and 6) Destiny, meaning God’s ability to know and influence our fate as a test, reward, or punishment.

Few Americans of any religious persuasion disagree with the basic articles of faith outlined above. The differences between most religions lie in the details, as do those between sects or denominations within any religion. On the whole, however, Jews, Christians, and Muslims absolutely agree on the first and most important article of faith above: The belief in One God. What is interesting is that, like Christians, Muslims believe in Jesus’ Virgin Birth, his role as Messiah, his Gospel, his miracles, his Second Coming, and more. But, what does McMillan say about any group other than Muslims regarding their belonging in America, particularly those that do not adhere to the above beliefs regarding Jesus or God? Something tells me he is not so courageously outspoken on the issue. How could this be? It is quite possible McMillan’s opposition to Islam in America has more to do with his perceived foreignness of Muslims than with their religious beliefs.

America, its laws, politics, public education, and other institutions were designed to remain separate from religion, in general, and away from any specific religion, in particular. In America, Christians, atheists, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Seventh Day Adventists, Wiccans, Rastafarians, Mormons, Scientologists, and followers of every other belief system belong. Individuals from every race, ethnicity, culture, social class, economic class, political persuasion, and walk of life belong in America. That’s what America has been about, from its inception to the present. America is about inclusiveness. America is about belonging. What do not belong in America are ignorance, hatred, racism, bigotry, fanaticism, violence, and prejudice.

So, if some individuals from outside America engage in "un-American" practices, we should not hold their religion or American counterparts to blame. Otherwise, in the interest of fairness, we must hold everyone in America responsible for the misdeeds of their co-religionists abroad and declare them and their religions incompatible with American culture. I’m sure Mr. McMillan agrees this would hardly be desirable or fair.