One Nation, Indivisible

Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets

Celene Ibrahim

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781532645723
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Ecumenism & Interfaith

Comprised of the wisdom ofover fiftyscholars,preachers, poets, and artists, this anthology isborn of the conviction that open-hearted engagement across our differences is a prerequisite for healthy civic life today. The collectionoffersinspiration to faith leaders, social-justice activists, and secular readers alike, while simultaneously providing an accessible window onto lived Islam. Taken as a whole, One Nation, Indivisible highlights principles and practices of anti-racism work, and its contributors argue for a robust visionof American pluralism. While most of the contributorsreside in the United States, through their stories of encounter, they bring a global perspective and encourage us all, wherever we may be, to find ways of traversing our otherwise isolating enclaves.

Part I

Eclipsing Hate

Eclipse Viewing from Harvard Art Museums, photograph by Anthony Trifone

Viewing glasses flew off shelves as a complete solar eclipse swept darkness over much of the continental United States in August of 2017. Hardcore eclipse enthusiasts and casual observers alike stared into the darkened afternoon sky; many Muslims recited eclipse prayers together in mosques, homes, and workplaces. On my way home that day, my eye caught a Cambridge yard sign reading: “Eclipse Hate.” My gut wrenched as I was taken—from the sweet afternoon memories of people marveling together with strangers on sidewalks, passing eclipse glasses back and forth with generous enthusiasm—to the darkness of the white nationalist, Nazi sympathizers with their Tiki torches blazing, weapons menacing, swarming the streets and green spaces of Charlottesville, Virginia.

How can we, as individuals and communities, intervene in countering this destructive hate and fear that brews beneath the surface of our polity? How can we prevent it from again instigating violence and causing havoc? What can we learn from the peace activists and clergy of all colors and cloths who amassed a counter presence with prayer and song in a testament to the resilience of the human spirit? With the rise of isolationism, nativism, rampant fearmongering, the spread of American-made weapons around the globe, and even the proposals from those in positions of power for increased militarization of our schools and workplaces, what wisdom can be derived from core texts, teachings, and traditions? How do we understand our seemingly innate capacities for monstrosity? How can we overcome our more destructive collective impulses? What can help us bridge divides, counter hate, and stand up for those whose safety and security are most threatened? What interventions does the present moment necessitate? Such questions are the heart of this section.

Dr. Jennifer Howe Peace, Nancy Elizabeth Reinhardt, the Reverend Dr. Sunder John Boopalan, and Dr. Marlyn Miller critique the discourses promoting the social exclusion of minorities and immigrants and highlight the social and moral costs of this bigotry. Jenny Peace explores how dehumanizing propaganda can readily pave the way for even more vitriolic acts. Nancy Reinhardt explains why she was not going to let the Islamophobia industry define how she related to her fellow Bostonians. Sunder John Boopalan provides a novel motivation for dismantling stereotypes, and Marlyn Miller provides a window on the past to inform our shared present. Together, their contributions shine light on the basic concept of human dignity that can be found pulsing so strongly through our wisdom traditions and our collective civic values.

The Dangers of Dehumanizing Language1

Jennifer Howe Peace

Between the Twitter-driven rancor of contemporary discourse and the belittling rhetoric that has come to characterize campaign cycles, it can be tempting to dismiss vitriolic speech as political spin or to tune it out because of the sheer volume of unsubstantiated claims and caricatures. Yet, the proliferation of dehumanizing language in public discourse, and particularly at the highest levels of government, deserves attention. Dehumanization is a chilling part of the process of peeling back the moral conscience that protects our most cherished values about how we are to interact with each other. Language that deprives people of human qualities, attributes, individuality, personality, or spirit is a threat to the very fabric of our civic life. As a professor of interfaith studies concerned with training future (primarily Christian) ministers and educators, I feel a particular responsibility to work with my students to identify patterns of thought, dangerous stereotypes, and problematic sources of influence—both in their own personal and theological perspectives as well as in the wider national context.

The tendency to dehumanize individuals, lumping them into groups, comparing them to diseases, infestations, monsters, or other malignant non-human threats is a tendency we are all subject to and must guard against. This tendency is not the exclusive practice of one community or one political party. For instance, in 2016 Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) compared Jewish people living in disputed territories in Israel to “termites”;2 Michael Flynn, a retired US Army lieutenant general and registered Democrat who had a short-lived appointment as national security advisor in the current Republican administration, described Islam as a cancer.3 It is easy to slip from disagreeing with a policy or a practice to demonizing a people, but this is a line we must recognize and resist crossing.4

A New York Times article from February 1, 2017, with the headline, “A Sinister Perception of Islam Now Steers the White House,” written by Scott Shane, Matthew Rosenberg, and Eric Lipton, heightened my concern about a resurgence of such language.5 The focus of the article is on the distorted views of Islam held by many of President Trump’s advisors, including Stephen Bannon and Michael Flynn. (Both of whom were still advising Trump when the article was written). The article mentions organizations and figures associated with Bannon and Flynn that share a deeply divisive “us/them” narrative about Islam and Muslims.

Among the many troubling attitudes and associates influencing Trump’s policy toward Muslims, Frank Gaffney Jr. stands out. Gaffney is founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an anti-Muslim hate group. As reported in the article, Gaffney, a frequent guest on Bannon’s Breitbart radio program, argues that a “stealth Jihad” is underway by everyday Muslims in mosques and student associations in the United States. Gaffney is quoted as saying that these Muslims, “essentially, like termites, hollow out the structure of the civil society and other institutions, for the purpose of creating conditions under which the jihad will succeed.” T...