The article "Managing 'American Islam'" by Mitra Rastegar discusses how the Islamic faith is treated in the US post 9-11 and how it has changed and adapted to suit its current wartime environment. Rastegar makes the point early on in the article that the United States has always been known as the country of freedom of religion that accepts any faith. This point is vital to the entire basis of this American Islam. The country that claims such an inviting atmosphere for religious tolerance should live up to that expectation, regardless of the circumstances. However, because of the intense situation with the war on terror created by the Bush administration, the United States has become more involved in discovering the "true" Islam, free of oppressive radicals and filled with patriotism and feminism. In a way, the US is reforming Islam. Rastegar quotes President Bush saying, "This enemy falsely claims that America is at war with Muslims and the Muslim
faith, when in fact it is these radicals who are Islam’s true enemy . . . We must help millions of Muslims as they rescue a proud and historic religion from murderers and beheaders who seek to soil the name of Islam." This quote, when analyzed by Rastegar, shows that Bush is suggesting there are two forms of Islam: the bad and the true. Guess which one is allowed in America? When it comes down to it, the US isn't supporting anything but its own interests. If you weed out the bad Muslims who do not believe what the US finds to be complying with the "true" Islam, then you weed out those who could be dangerous radicals out to destroy the country. "American" Islam means government approved Islam.
I do believe that there is a true or pure version of religions in the sense that I believe that some conform to the religious texts and others do not...but I do not believe that people outside of that religion should be the one to assess what the "true" form is. I think it is wrong of US to assert that our land allows for the "true" expression of Islam. Most Americans do not even know anything about Islam besides what they have witnessed on the news and we know that is quite slanted.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with many of your points and find that “true” Islamic faith is not necessarily what you see on television. Radicals of course are going to get much of the attention, which unfortunately negatively stigmatizes many Muslims who are truly good people. I also agree with you regarding the fact that America claims to accept all faiths, but instead often shows prejudice against those they don’t understand.
ReplyDeleteI think that last sentence in your post is very strong. "American" Islam does indeed mean government approved Islam. With that in mind, we still can't necessarily split the religion into different subgroups. The bad Muslims are definitely the radicals and extremist, but it's almost like they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same conversation. The fact that they are "bad Muslims" really should mean they aren't Muslim at all, that they are just simply terrorist regardless of religion.
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