Where Does Islam Stand?

Blue Mosque

The morning of September 12, 2001, The manager at my job held a meeting with all of our Turkish employees. I worked on campus at my University, and the school had been recruiting students from Turkey for several years.  Many of these students ended up working where I did, just for some extra cash. Our manager met with them to warn them about retaliation from fellow students, and the community after the 9/11 attacks.  He also assured them of our support at work–we knew who they really were, and not to worry.  The whole meeting worried me…I knew these guys…and obviously they were nowhere near the World Trade Center.  I knew that they were in class that tragic morning–like the rest of us–or sleeping through class–like the rest of the rest of us.  I wondered in the back of my mind if people really would equate MIDDLE EASTERN with MUSLIM and ultimately with TERRORIST.

I have grown up with friends from Saudi, Egyptian, Iranian, Turkish, Pakistani, and other backgrounds that made their family’s religious upbringing Muslim.  As far as people go, they were only as different as my Jewish, Catholic or Korean Baptist friends were to me.  Because of this, I absolutely REFUSE to believe that everyone in the Islamic world is our enemy. I want to see how far the propaganda of the Bush Administration and our emotional state (since 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars) have taken us. 

I found a poll–please take it!  I want to see more of what we think about Islam (as I’m sure the author, Tony, does too) in a post-9/11 world.  When I submitted my vote, the results I saw were quite surprising.

Obama on 9/11 and legislation about Hurricane Katrina

Some may call this following statement “unpatriotic” (just like not wearing that flag pin). Really, I think these words show a leader’s finest traits of good judgement.

Obama’s response to the events of 9/11 and the course of action we must take as a nation was published on September 19, 2001 in the Hyde Park Herald:

Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction.

Obama went on to say:

We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe—children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.

I hope we can glean some insight into that on today, our darkest of days. Though we are now somewhat desensitized to the tragedy, as a nation (a little bit more absorbed in ourselves nowadays), the clarity with which he saw the situation in the weeks following, should let us know that, as president, he would not react to tragedy with panic–a move which we have seen only creates more tragedy, not only for ourselves (our servicemen, servicewomen, contractors, etc) but for our allies, and “enemies” alike.

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He has the ability to make informed decisions.  For the critics of Obama, that state he never wrote or sponsored any real legislation, let me inform you that he sponsored a bill for special-needs evacuation plans. In light of the recent Hurricane Gustav Hysteria, this might prove to be more “mud” to throw at the Republican response. Especially read the legislative outcome at the end.

Obama sponsored including special-needs people in emergency evacuation plans
OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: A bill to ensure the evacuation of individuals with special needs in times of emergency.
SPONSOR’S INTRODUCTORY REMARKS: Sen. OBAMA: One of the most striking things about the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is that the majority of stranded victims were our society’s most vulnerable members–low-income families, the elderly, the homeless, the disabled. Many did not own cars. Many believed themselves unable to flee the city, unable to forego the income from missed work, unable to incur the expenses of travel, food and lodging. Some may have misunderstood the severity of the warnings, if they heard the warnings at all. Some may have needed help that was unavailable. Whatever the reason, they were not evacuated and we have seen the horrific results.

This failure to evacuate so many of the most desperate citizens of the Gulf Coast leads me to introduce today a bill to require states and the nation to consider the needs of our neediest citizens in times of emergency. It appears that certain assumptions were made in planning and preparing for the worst case scenario in the Gulf Coast. After all, most of those who could afford to evacuate managed to do so. They drove out of town and checked into hotels or stayed with friends and family. But what about the thousands of people left behind because they had special needs?

Communities with special needs may be more challenging to accommodate, but they are every bit as important to protect and serve in the event of an emergency. What we saw in the Gulf Coast cannot be repeated. We may not be able to control the wrath of Mother Nature, but we can control how we prepare for natural disasters.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; never came to a vote.

Source: Emergency planning bill (S.1685) 05-S1685 on Sep 12, 2005