The film is about the struggles of an Amer
ican Muslim community and their attempts to build an Islamic center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Highlighted are the irrational fears that can develop in the absence of education and understanding, with anxiety about Islamic infiltration and the implementation of sharia law (misunderstood to mean the brutality reported from Afghanistan) being central concerns.
The people in the film who are strongly opposed to the Islamic center and mosque make bizarre, unreasonable statements; for this reason it is easy to casually dismiss them. But casual dismissal leads to self-congratulation and away from constructive thinking and action. One possibility is to try seeing ourselves in them. Under different circumstances, the roles might be reversed.
Another issue worth thought and action is Washington's continued indirect (and sometimes direct) encouragement of the population's fears on this matter. Foreign policy has played a role in our perceptions. Because operations in Iraq have been discontinued, and withdrawal from Afghanistan is soon to take place, does not mean Washington's interests in the Middle East have been called to a halt. Far from it. Syria is now a fulcrum where the White House is seeking leverage instead of pursuing diplomacy through the UN. The Palestinian situation languishes under US-Israeli rejectionism. And tensions with Iran persist with President Obama's continuation of his predecessor's Axis of Evil concept. Little has changed.
The intolerance in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has a number of sources - historical, political, cultural - but the interconnection of these sources means that when one gets addressed, the others do as well. Changing the mind of someone who is intolerant may or may not be possible, but cultivating an atmosphere - historically, politically, culturally - that starts to inhibit the growth of future intolerance, though an infinite task, can produce results.
Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlqz3e9OrA
CNN follow-up article, Aug. 10
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/10/controversial-mosque-opens-in-tennessee
The people in the film who are strongly opposed to the Islamic center and mosque make bizarre, unreasonable statements; for this reason it is easy to casually dismiss them. But casual dismissal leads to self-congratulation and away from constructive thinking and action. One possibility is to try seeing ourselves in them. Under different circumstances, the roles might be reversed.
Another issue worth thought and action is Washington's continued indirect (and sometimes direct) encouragement of the population's fears on this matter. Foreign policy has played a role in our perceptions. Because operations in Iraq have been discontinued, and withdrawal from Afghanistan is soon to take place, does not mean Washington's interests in the Middle East have been called to a halt. Far from it. Syria is now a fulcrum where the White House is seeking leverage instead of pursuing diplomacy through the UN. The Palestinian situation languishes under US-Israeli rejectionism. And tensions with Iran persist with President Obama's continuation of his predecessor's Axis of Evil concept. Little has changed.
The intolerance in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has a number of sources - historical, political, cultural - but the interconnection of these sources means that when one gets addressed, the others do as well. Changing the mind of someone who is intolerant may or may not be possible, but cultivating an atmosphere - historically, politically, culturally - that starts to inhibit the growth of future intolerance, though an infinite task, can produce results.
Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlqz3e9OrA
CNN follow-up article, Aug. 10
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/10/controversial-mosque-opens-in-tennessee
