03
Oct
2007
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Don't have to wear a silk veil over your head to have a closed mind

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Of course, living in an area of one of the largest concentrations of Arabs in the Chicagoland area means that the friction between extremist Christian activists and extremists Muslim activists is going to be an everyday occurrence. And sure enough, another controversy has erupted, this time in the public schools.

As we all know, religious conservatives believe all women must wear a Hijab and that their families and children must refrain from certain Western practices like Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and, yes, the evil of all evils, eating Jello.

This being Ramadan, the cause of the conflicts, a Muslim mother said all she wanted to do was “educate” non-Muslims about her culture. Instead, Muslims at a school in the Southwest Suburb of Oak Lawn have managed to force the school board to change the school menu — dropping pork and Jello — and ,for a brief time, considered shutting down all acknowledgements of Christmas and Halloween.

Sadly, these activists should try educating themselves first about living in a country with a traditional Christian belief system. Yes, the school systems shut down for Christmas, in much the same way that Islamic society comes to halt each day during Ramadan and other Muslim Holidays. Imagine if a Christian priest in ANY Muslim country asked if the schools and government would stop celebrating religious beliefs? They would probably be attacked, imprisoned or killed just as are Muslims in Islamic countries in the past who converted to Christianity have been attacked, imprisoned and sentenced to death. Ironically, Christians are a part of the Islamic World and its not like Muslims are unfamiliar with Christian practices. But one wonders if the hypocrisy of the conflict in the Islamic World is merely played down.

It’s a pathetic double standard, but the real crime is that the Muslim extremists in the United States can’t even get their facts right. And while they demand tolerance for themselves, they refuse to acknowledge tolerance for others.

Yet, despite the extremism, at least in this instance, cooler heads prevailed and the school boards refused to eliminate Christmas observance and Halloween.

Here are some links to some of the stories for background, but the television reports have been the most frightening as extremists on both sides let their emotions out last night screaming at each other over the issues:

The Star Newspapers

The Chicago Tribune

Some facts:

There are about 7 million Muslims in the United States, but only 22-24 percent are Arab.

There are about 4.5 million Arabs in the United States, and the majority, more than 60 percent, are Christian.

Chicago has more than 250,000 Arabs, with the largest concentration on the Southwest Side, about 70 percent ar Palestinian, followed by large groups of Lebanese, the first settlers, and by Jordanians (my book “Arabs of Chicagoland,” Arcadia Publishing, gives the historical details on all of the major Arab settlers from the turn of the 20th century Chicago.)

Halloween is NOT a day when children worship the devil. Hundreds if not thousands of years ago, Pagans celebrated the Devil but Halloween was established by the Catholic Church as a counter to chase away the devils. It happens that Halloween is held the same time as the old long-gone Pagan celebrations and many Muslims, who do not know anything about Christian religious beliefs, sadly, insist that Halloween is the modernday practice of devil worship. Last time I looked, “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat” was not a spell for the Devil. Rather than close their drapes and lock their doors and tell their children this is a devil-worship holiday (as they in fact do), Muslims should allow their children to wear costumes that are among the most popular, clowns, cheerful icons and other non-demon-like masks. They can even paint their face in fun — and the last I heard, fun has not yet been banned as “haram” in the Islamic World.

Santa Clause and Christmas trees are associated with Christmas, one of the holiest religious celebrations for Christians each year, but they are secular symbols, not religious icons of the religious observation. Christmas Trees were created and so was the image of Santa Claus to help children understand the special belief during Christmas that Christians recognize the sacrifices of Jesus and extend generosity and a hand of friendship, through gift-giving, to others. Christians and non-Christians alike. It is a traditional Christian act to give presents at Christmas not just to Christians but to non-Christians, too.

Valentine’s Day is high on the hit list of extremist Muslims in America, because the day recognize the special relationship between human beings who have affection for each other. But rather than be the dirty image portrayed by some Imam’s in the Chicagoland area and around the country, Valentine’s Day is a secular day when people who care for others extend a hand in friendship and “love” to their husbands, wives, girlfriends and boyfriends (the real operative words the extremists hate), and to brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and to strangers. Children give Valentine’s Day Cards to other children because it is FUN.

Schools with large Muslim populations already ban the serving of pork, and while that is a disgusting infringement on the rights of other people to deny food items from a menu because certain families dislike it for religious reasons, it has been tolerated. And, the schools have also dropped Jello, and to be honest I am tired of listening to why extremist Muslims don’t like Jello any more. It’s pathetic.

The truth is the real target of these extremists is “fun.” They live their lives demanding that societies around them acknowledge their rights and tolerate their differences, but as soon as they can muster a voice, they turn around and try to impose their views on every one else.

Fortunately, the Muslim mother who initiated this latest round of hate-sparking controversy, has backed down, claiming now that all she ever wanted to do was include Ramadan observances at the school — which was being done. They already allow, and rightly so, Muslim children to take time out during lunch to observe their fasting requirements and to even pray, something Christian kids are only allowed to do on their own time and not designated by a school official. And, the woman was allowed to put up a Ramadan display to educate others about Ramadan.

The school board, after a heated meeting last night where fanatics on both sides rose to scream at each other and accuse each other of racism — nice lesson being taught here — decided NOT to cancel Christmas, at least not this year. And Halloween celebrations for the children will continue.

More encouraging was that there are a growing number of Moderate Muslims and Moderate Christians who observe their religious beliefs without demanding that they be imposed on each other, who stood up and criticized the mother and those who said Christmas and Halloween should be cancelled. If you oppose Halloween — and many Christians also oppose Halloween because they dislike children wearing scary and monster costumes, not because of the unrelated Pagan rituals from the historical past of Europe (not even the United States), then don’t celebrate it — don’t go as far to shut the door on someone who does celebrate it.

During Ramadan, should Christians close their drapes and lock their doors and teach their children that the month-long holiday is sacrilegious? No. They should welcome Muslims who celebrate Ramadan with open arms, and teach their children about Ramadan so that we can live in a world that is more educated and tolerant. And Christians should learn more about Ramadan and all of the Islamic holidays if they insist on declaring themselves the “leaders of the free world.”

America is NOT a Christian nation as extremist presidential candidate John McCain has declared. It IS a FREE NATION where people of all religious have the right to celebrate their holidays and religious beliefs in freedom without oppression. Just don’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do.

And by the way, in this whole debate, I did not hear one Muslim, or many Christians, stand up for the rights of Jews who for years celebrated the Hanukkah quietly while Christians loudly celebrated Christmas.

The real tragedy here is this stupid debate continues in part because moderate Muslims refuse to stand up and tell the extremists in their communities to shut up and sit down. And it has become ammunition for the growing number of Christian fanatics who are all over the web predicting doom and gloom because a few Muslims are asking that their religious beliefs be accommodated, too. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck — the loser hate-mongers that they are, continue to promote extremist responses to false issues. The Muslims complaining about Christmas are not representative of all Muslims. But then, you don’t have to wear a silk veil over your face to have a closed mind.

Ray Hanania
www.ArabWritersGroup.com