Sol Sanders, "SANDERS: Does America have a ‘Muslim problem’?," Washington Times, 11/27/11

Sanders is very effective, on several levels, in this article as he discusses the typical American attitude towards Islam in relation to the prior American attitude towards communism. He discusses how the problem with the American view of Islam is not in the differentiation between the use of Islamic ideals for religion or for politics, but it is much deeper and more complex. Just as the fear of communism spread through the U.S. in the mid-1900s, an epidemic of Islamic fear is now infiltrating our thoughts. While McCarthyism made the accusations "You're a communist," today's 'ism' points a nasty finger in the face of Muslims.

Yet, Sander discusses the apparent similarities of Islam with Christianity saying "Islam never had its Renaissance, its Reformation, its Counter-Reformation, its Haskalah, its Enlightenment, its scientific revolution" like the others which makes accusations against Islam  a bit unfair.

Additionally, Sanders actually educates! He provides Islamic/Arabic based terms and (interestingly) provides a definition for those terms. THIS is what the U.S. Media needs in order to overcome their prejudices. A potential problem though, is that his message and educative ability, through publication in the Washington Post, only reaches certain audiences (potentially the more educated anyway).

Finally, the intonation Sanders utilizes to get his message across provides subtle revelation. He says, "Just oil revenue alone of a half-trillion dollars annually finances fanaticism to spread hatred with a 'we-they' syndrome so virulent that no Western psychiatrist could have imagined it." This 'we-they' syndrome he explores is extremely multifaceted. It provides insight into the ugliness of the every day opinions of individuals if they fail to understand others. Additionally, it lights up some orientalist ideas where the definition of a religion is shaped in the eyes of the outsider.

Final Project Proposal (with Emma Wilson)

Summary:

Throughout our lives we have been exposed to the typical connotations associated with the Islamic faith. Through this course, we have witnessed the media's portrayal of Muslims to be primarily negative. We wish to explore how coverage of the events of September 11th contribute to the negative views of many Americans. 

Now that we have taken a world religions class, we realize that what the news portrays is only the extremes, and of course 'bad' news is more popular to listeners than 'good' news. During our last few lectures, the Islamic faith has proved to be just as peaceful and respectful as any other religion. Therefore, with our project we want to explore the effects of media on people from our demographic and illustrate the power of the media to develop prejudices within citizens. Further we want to provide evidence for the general ignorance of individuals, both in relation to Islam and the events of 9/11. 

Since the events of 9/11 (and the association of Al-Queda in the attacks) dominates the media's portrayal of Muslims, we will show video's/news clips to individuals and ask them to respond briefly. Additionally, we will ask them questions about Islam and 9/11. We will ask them to explore where their opinions/stereotypes come from. 

We hope to be happily surprised to find that Gustavus students are all above the exaggerations of the media but we more-so expect to find some ignorance and stereotypic opinions.

Thesis:

U.S. citizens (Gustavus students) gain their prejudices against Muslims from association with the violence of 9/11 (and the media's portrayal of the events) without understanding the Islamic faith. 

Sources:

Video about victims of 9/11:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G0vP3dQvyY&feature=fvwrel

Media coverage of attacks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhqLh_c0NL4 

        (accident or deliberate attack @7 min)

        (second crash @8:10 min -- deliberate --actually speculate Bin Laden initially)

Voices of the hijackers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl4RFoT-sJQ

United 93 Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz9BTKO_plI

Bin Laden pronounced dead/taking credit for the attacks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq-JaBhEqC8

     (this is all that we hoped for...allah be praised)

Other videos:

Muslims in the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5BtQgTGOI4

How Muslims feel about the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol40LCZ7Xfg

Other Sources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/02/us-france-fire-magazine-idUSTRE7A117N20111102

http://www.islamfortoday.com/media.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K34NG2VR7dA

Description of the project:

We (Ann and Emma) will be creating a video, compiling clips from interviews with Gusties and popular media clips from the events of September 11th. 

Resources:

We will not need additional assistance, we will be utilizing on-campus video cameras and 'final cut pro' software also found on campus! 

"Muslims rally in New York, say we're also Americans," The Times of India, 11/20/11

"We are unapologetically Muslim and uncompromisingly American," this article quotes Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid as his opinion stands for the feelings of Muslim protesters in New York. This group of individuals feel that the police's involvement in their mosques and religious practices is unwarranted and goes against their rights as citizens. This type of Muslim-American interaction (despite the fact that it is also an American-American interaction) illustrates many frustrating realities. One problem is the so-called separation of church and state in America. Clearly, police infiltration goes against several aspects of this tenet of the American government. Yet it must be noted that after 9/11, laws were implemented that reduced the privacy of citizens for the sake of general U.S. security (Patriot Act). Given such, this New York police involvement becomes warranted. The problem here, in the eyes of these American Muslims, is the generalization/stereotypes projected onto them. I understand their religious frustration, yet they have to understand that they are the ones with the power to break the American prejudices against Islam. The tone of this article alludes that they might understand this, as they protest in a simple and powerful way. This partnership, of Peaceful Muslims with open-minded journalists, has the potential to change the hearts of many Americans.

Harold Mandel, "Dr Sangay wants "concrete action" from Obama administration," Examiner, 11/7/11

The author of this article does little to provide background information for their reader audience. This poses a problem for those who are not avid followers of current events. It is especially observable in my demographic that spending time on current events in not a part of the daily hectic routine (unless imposed upon them by the looming assignments of a crazy world religions prof). When Mandel discusses the need for US support, he briefly brushes over the self-immolations that have headlined recently. Furthermore, his discussion is completely lacking in any educative information on the current situation in Tibet. Through these 'looming assignments imposed upon me by my crazy world religions prof' I am familiar with the situation. Yet despite my educated viewpoint, I was still left to question the role Dr. Sangay plays in the situation. It is implied that he is an influential leader in Tibet or in the Buddhist faith but Mandel does not even give him a few word description. Admittedly, a short news update can not be exhaustive on the background material, yet in order to allow readers to be informed there needs to be a balance between efficiency and comprehensiveness in presenting material in the media.

Rajan Zed, "Jews & Buddhists join upset Hindus in asking apology from Kentucky politician," Gant Daily, 11/4/11

"I hope their eyes are opened and they receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior," a Kentucky politician says as he degrades the Hindu religion. This and other quotes are presented in this article, as Zed discusses the broadening response to this intolerance. Although a direct slam at some Hindu practices, this politician is being pressured not only from Hindus but from Jews and Buddhists alike for a public apology. I think there is more to be said about the content of this news article than the tone with which the author discusses the events. Many American's may tentatively condemn this politician's ideology. Even more would categorize this situation, or this politician's intolerance, as a lone standing event. But upon deep contemplation of the typical American attitude you'll find deeply engrained prejudices against any religion seen as 'different' or 'foreign.' As presented in adherents.com, it is estimated that 33% of the world's population are Christian while 16% are Hindu. The way I see it this translates quickly to a sad image: randomly gather 100 world citizens and 33 of them, terrorized by ignorance, huddle in the corner whispering hopes at the rest that they 'receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior.' Parallel to the situation with the Kentucky politician, the remaining religions band together cohesively. While it may be with good intentions, our ignorant viewpoint will yield no good benefits. As this ignorance breeds segregation and intolerance, even discussions like Zed's open-minded examination of this situation are not enough to combat the deep prejudices.

Daniel A Bell, "Is China Facing a Health Care Crisis?" New York Times, 11/1/11

Although health care reform is a common headliner in the U.S., it is rarely associated with religious influences. Most media discussions on health care do not include commentary on the Christian values held by the majority. This article, a U.S. based publication, is centered around the Chinese system of health care. In doing so, Bell subtly characterizes the inherent differences between the Chinese and American economic systems. Further, he eludes to the more religiously relevant philosophies held by each world hegemony. He interjects his discussion with the role of filial piety, a commonly held view of Confucianism, without fully defining the term to his audience. This seems to be an underlying difficulty involved in religion in the media -discussions might be encompassing but education on 'foreign' religion concepts tends to be lacking. What Bell does appropriately, though, is provide a sturdy foundation for the 'foreign' term filial piety. Unfortunately, usually even this baseline for an educative perspective gets clouded by opinions, biases or judgements by reporters. Any educative perspective provided by Bell then becomes one of vague exposure to religious concepts. Although this is not ideal, it will allow for recognition of terminology in future exposures. In this way, as readers scan for headlines that are familiar to them (ie. health care) they will become conditioned to some religious concepts, yielding a gradual comfort/education with the topics.