Three Muslim organizations have raised over $100,000 to rebuild black churches in the South. In the days following the shooting of nine people inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, a string of church fires at black worship centers in the South raised alarm on social media. Authorities have not indicated that the fires are connected to Charleston, but the blazes made headlines in the wake of what many believe to have been the worst incident of racist terrorism in years. The Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the Arab-American Association of New York and Ummah Wide wanted to make sure these churches were restored as soon as possible. The organizations joined forces to launch the “Respond With Love” campaign on July 2, stating on their fundraising page that “ALL houses of worship are sanctuaries, a place where all should feel safe.”
As I was reading this story, I could fairly visualize the heads of people like Ann Coulter and Pam Geller exploding in a paroxysm of righteous fury. If you, like them, have managed to convince yourself that Muslims are by definition terrorists who hate America and wish for nothing more than to destroy White Christians and all that we hold dear…well, you might want to grab some Xanax and a glass of Chardonnay. This story’s not going to sit well with your preconceived notions and fear of all things Muslim…because you’re hating those who are actually living the best aspects of their religion. I suspect they on some level recognize and understand they’re incapable of doing the same.
This should be a commendably straightforward story about people of faith doing what people of faith are called to do by their belief system. Most any religion revolves around the basic tenet that faith is a way to make the world a better, happier, and more pleasant place for humanity in general. That shouldn’t seem a radical idea, but given the current propensity towards intolerant, hateful fundamentalism, people actually living their beliefs seem like something worthy of celebrating. After a number of black churches in the South were put to the torch, who stepped up and took it upon themselves to help those in need? If you guessed the very same people who many suspect of being terrorists merely by virtue of their appearance and their faith, you’re a better person than most…because you’re correct.
I suppose the moral of the story is that, as with anything else, tarring an entire group with the same brush is never accurate or fair. Yes, there are certainly Muslims in this country who’d like nothing better than to make violent jihad a reality. To be fair, there are many Christians who’d gladly do the same in the name of their faith. Neither of these examples have ANYTHING to do with the religion they claim as their own; it has everything to do with anger, prejudice, hatred, and intolerance- none of which are core values of Islam or Christianity.
The “Respond With Love” campaign ended July 18th and raised $100,470. Instead of blowing things up, Muslims were helping Christian churches rebuild. I wonder how many Christians would have been willing to return the favor if several mosques had been torched?
A richly-deserved WWJD tip o’ the hat goes out to those Muslims who made this a reality. Then again, this is the sort of thing that happens when you choose following the teachings of your religion rather over hating and destroying those who think and believe differently.
