Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in both our society and Muslim societies, women with an agenda can be at
odds. Some women push their rights in terms of “family values,” while others
push their agenda in terms of “women's liberation.”
Many things drive religious people to get political: a desire for economic
justice, a moral environment in which to raise their children, equal rights, the
“sanctity of life,” and hopes for salvation. h ese are powerful forces that can
easily be manipulated by clever political marketing. h ey can drive people
to war and they know no cultural or political boundaries.
Observing the enthusiasm of this very religious crowd in the courtyard
of the mosque, I could imagine someone who had never been outside of the
USA dropping in on this scene—and being quite shocked by it all. I asked
my Muslim friend, “Should a Christian be threatened by Islam?” She said,
“If you have self-coni dence in your system, assuming it deserves to survive,
it will. Christendom should be threatened by Islam only if the Christian
West seeks empire here.”
I i nd an irony in the current tensions between America and Islam. I
believe we're incurring incalculable costs (both direct and indirect, tangible
and intangible) because our lack of understanding makes us needlessly fear-
ful about Islam. And sadly, I fear that because we're afraid of it, our actions
create a situation where we need to be afraid.
