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A couple of key issues have come up over the summer holidays, which Muslim children and parents should be prepared for if they are not already. One might have been prepared for the deteriorating conditions between Muslim and non-Muslim peers but might have successfully focused on other things, including Ramadan.
However, a Muslim American child of school age has had to meet with quite a few unpleasant surprises since the US elections of 2008. Hate crimes have been becoming more frequent against the individual by the individual, even though they have always been part of the American landscape in general, and the education system in particular, so Muslims and our children need to be aware and prepared.
America is well known for the roots of fundamentalism in religion and for its politically active Christian Right known for its intolerant but influential views. It is less well known that the practice of religion, and Christianity in particular has been falling quite drastically in particular and in any religion in general (as demonstrated by the 1948–2008 Gallup Poll.
This can make one feel pretty insecure, especially if one's perception of reality is that other religions are taking over, when in fact one's country is becoming more and more without faith. So feel the Christians, and as we know some of them can become a little nasty.
One such Christian denomination is the Dove World Outreach Center, which describes itself as follows:
We are a New Testament, Charismatic, Non-Denominational Church that believes in the whole Bible and that we are to act in response to the word of God in order to change the times we are living in. Those times have gotten further and further away from God; full of deception like abortion and same sex marriages.
In July, 2009, this church has been facing some local protest against the sign it has had planted outside its building stating that "Islam is of the devil." On their website they state the reason for this "To expose Islam for what it is. It is a violent and oppressive religion that is trying to mascarade itself as a religion of peace, seeking to deceive our society."
However, in August 2009, the center now has children wearing T-shirts that also state: "Islam is of the Devil," and they have been attending their public schools wearing such T-shirts and refusing to remove them, despite the local ban on clothing that "disrupts the learning process." This argument contradicts the right under the First Amendment to free speech, the right to freedom of religious expression, along with the legal right to quash speech that is disruptive.
The moral, religious, and ethical issues, that abound, surpass one mother of the Dove World Outreach Center, when in defense of this racist statement she said the following:
My name is Amy Ingram and I am a member of Dove World Outreach Center.
Our church posted a sign this last Sunday stating "Islam is of the Devil." It was on the news on TV20
TV20 called it a "Hate Sign." Since we had several people demonstrating against the sign today, I guess lots of people agree.
I totally disagree. Being a new mom and a born again Christian I want my son to grow up with true Christianity. Not just some watered down, humanistic version of the Bible, but the truth. Every true Christian who believes in the Bible should also believe in John 14:5-7 "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Him!"
Muslims who believe in Mohammed and Allah are not saved. That should shock us and make us reach out to them and preach the word of God. Islam is of the devil. Thousands of people, many of them Christians, are converting to Islam and are being led astray. We cannot be afraid to speak the truth, even if it offends people. Only the truth can set us free. Pretending Islam is great is simply not right as a true Christian.
Since the mainstream media mainly talks positive about Islam you have to search for the truth about Islam, but it is out there.
So of course, as a Christian who feels one's faith is losing ground to Islam, Islam is perceived as being of the devil, and these sensitivities should be taken into mind. Mothers like her, new to Christianity, are unaware of the periods when Christianity was viewed as being of the turning people towards away from Christianity, due to corruption; and turning people towards atheism, theistic Satanism, and secularism.
It was Christianity which first painted the devil on the world's wall; It was Christianity which first brought sin into the world. Belief in the cure which it offered has now been shaken to its deepest roots; but belief in the sickness which it taught and propagated continues to exist.—German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Mechanisms of Hate
It is important to understand such circumstances that the Muslim children be taught to be patient and understanding and not to let the ignorance of others incline them toward the same hate. The mother quoted above believes avidly in what she has said. She has no idea that what she has been led to believe is part of a pattern of profiling a target group.
This is the kind of thinking in today's world. Research at Harvard University has proven how xenophobia is easily ignited. One teacher found how easily she was able to nurture the rudiments of xenophobia within her classroom. The teacher simply treated one group identified by blue eyes with privileges, and the other group identified by brown eyes without privileges. Within the same day, there was resentment and distrust. The conditions for nurturing hate are as follows:
1. Hate needs hidden biases.
2. Hate exposes insecurities of the hater (i.e., hate is an expression of their insecurities).
3. Haters gravitate toward other haters for there is strength in support when the lower desires are dominant.
4. They fall under three categories:
(a) Thrill seeker
(b) Reactive (needs an incident)
(c) Hard-core (defines themselves, names, beliefs, etc.)
5. Hate applies negative labels to the target group.
6. Hate directs animosity (propaganda) toward the target group.
7. Hate attacks the target group without weapons.
8. Hate attacks the target group with weapons.
9. Hate destroys the target group.
10. Hate knows no limit. Hate affects and shapes the personal relations of the hater and perception of the world — there is no "get-out-of-jail free card."
Racism has hidden baises, but its beginning lies with the need to ‘at appropriate; something belonging to others. Through a process of propaganda with the aim of disempowering the group and empowering the taker, prejudices are nurtured to justify the right to take or acquire.
An individual or group who is not aware of the conditions and causes is more likely to be confused, disorientated, and to question one's own worth. This is where fear and anger (as a result of humiliation) creep in. Once one understands the hater, one is more equipped emotionally and psychologically to cope.
With one's faith in hand, one is more able to rise above the circumstances one might find one's self in. For example, if one is hated because one is a Muslim, then one is more able to understand that the irrationality of the hater is based on fear, and that the "illusion" that you are enemies is the obstacle to be removed.
For Teachers
In Elliot Aronson's Nobody Left to Hate, an example is given for the classroom on how to break down the barriers of hate that pupils enter school with. The jigsaw method is applied and it involves dividing the class into groups, and providing a subtopic of a main topic for each student.
To complete the whole picture, each student has to share the information with the rest of the group. And because the group needs that individual to do well, as the group will be tested, the group cannot afford to ridicule, exploit, or ignore that person., because the group will want the best from that student. The level of interaction shifts from intolerance to tolerance. At the end, representatives from each group will test the other group on their topic.
For Students
Social conditions in Islam are derived from consensus. If the consensus is that you as a Muslim cannot pray at school consider the following hadiths:
Anas reported, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to combine two Prayers on a journey, he delayed the Dhuhr Prayer till came the early time of the `Asr Prayer, and then combined the two" (Muslim 4:1513).
`Abdullah B. Shaqiq reported, "Ibn `Abbas one day addressed us in the afternoon (after `Asr Prayer) till the sun disappeared and the stars appeared, and the people began to say, 'Prayer, Prayer.' A person from Banu Tamim came there. He neither slackened nor turned away, but [continued crying] 'Prayer, Prayer.' Ibn `Abbas said, 'May you be deprived of your mother; do you teach me Sunnah?' And then he said, 'I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combining the Dhuhr and `Asr Prayers and the Maghrib and `Isha' Prayers.'
`Abdullah B. Shaqiq added, "Some doubt was created in my mind about it. So I came to Abu Hurairah and asked him (about it) and he testified his assertion" (Muslim 4:1523).
It is always possible to return home from school for `Asr to perform combined Prayers; however, there is the option of doing one's Dhuhr Prayers in one's lunch break. For lunch, one can always bring a packed lunch, if the school lunch is questionable, however this presents a problem for poorer students who need a school lunch. Not all school lunches are haram, so bear in mind the days when one can eat a school meal and when one cannot.
Tool Kit
Share your suggestions below for coping with religious intolerance in schools!
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