Murfreesboro Revisited

Posted by bookncurls on March 28, 2011 · 4 Comments 

Interacting with American Muslims

Soledad O’Brien from CNN did a great job with tonight’s “Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door” newszine piece.  She centered her investigation in Murfreesboro, Tennessee interviewing Muslims and their opponents about the building of the Islamic Center there.  I recently went to Murfreesboro, met and spoke to Saleh Sbenaty and Imam Bahloul, visited the current Islamic center and the site for the new center.  I also regularly facilitate communication for Deaf Muslims in mosques in the area sometimes on a weekly basis.  There is a lot of respect for the United States, for Christians, and for humanity in general within the mosque and the Muslim community here in the US as well as throughout the world.

Islam is a religion.  I am amazed and horrified that a prosecuting lawyer would bring that up as a point of discussion in a trial.  There seem to be serious gaps in understanding in Murfreesboro about Islam among a section of people.  But I would like to explore that a little further in order to start asking more questions and hopefully get under the surface of some of this apparent ridiculousness.

Islam: A Mirror for American Conservative Society?

The woman who funded the lawsuit, Sally Wall, against the Islamic Center told Soledad that her experience with Muslims comes from family who lived in Saudi Arabia and Iran.  Does her exposure influence her course of action?  I would like to separate two things.

Fear of Islam or fear of a way of life?  These may seem interconnected but my own experience living in conservative towns is that likely, not a lot of people care too much what happens on the other side of the world as long as it doesn’t affect them.  If people want to live under a religion, then they are free to do so.  The fear among conservative Americans comes from a belief that it could change or influence their way of living.

A woman for example in the US hears that women in Saudi Arabia can’t drive.  When they visit Saudi Arabia, their elbow is spray painted when the wind exposes it to the religious police.  Women are wearing head to toe clothing in over 100 degree heat.  I’m not sure a woman in Murfreesboro is as worried about the Muslim woman who chose to wear it.  She is more likely thinking about what would it mean if she herself had to wear the clothes or was suddenly not allowed to drive.

I think the fear grows because women living in conservative religious towns often lack some freedoms themselves.  They might have heard of women getting beaten.  They’ve heard of the women’s crisis centers.  This happens despite their religious conservative society.  There’s often a lot of emphasis to marry and have children but education and other goals become difficult and many aren’t able to finish.  Those who do finish may still feel unfulfilled some of whom are not able to utilize their education in society. There are other, often unspoken, limitations placed on women that are so integrated, they may not always be conscious of them but feel it nonetheless.  Limitations may not even always be bad but they are there.  Some may not view them as limitations.  This idea mirrors arguments in Islamic society about female roles.

Men.  I can not speak with as much insight into the fears that conservative men may have but I would say that there may be fears that stem from issues they are seeing in their own lives as well.  Islam may be a mirror into the conservative society of America.  It’s nice for a liberal living in a metropolitan area to be completely dumbfounded by the backwardness of these small towns.  Yet, live in one of those towns and find out that conservative America may know a little about the challenges of living under a religious society.

The liberating effects of religion can also bring some cultural suffocation.  I was dating a guy once from Argentina.  It didn’t work out but not too long afterward I was talking to an American guy who said we Americans treat our women so much better.  In some ways yes, but that is because we tend to have more laws regulating the treatment of women.  There are plenty of men who rule their wives in the US.  Take the time I was at a gas station in small-town Utah.  Two separate women asked me how to fill their gas tanks because they had never done it before.  One was in her 60s.  The other was in her late twenties with a child.  You’ve maybe heard of women who cannot write checks without their husband’s approval.

Sometimes the people who are quickest to say they don’t like something are the people who refuse to see the quality in themselves.

Racially dominated Areas

People who live in communities without a lot of exposure to different types of people feel more confident in their appraisal of others.  They are supported by their social network and therefore don’t need to be concerned about offending others.  That is one reason why it would be difficult to live with a perceived growth of Muslims in Murfreesboro.  Let’s take a look at that, though as well.

Good people who have grown up without a lot of exposure to other cultures often don’t know how to interact with them.  The lack of understanding may lead them to learn more or lead to greater fear.  Often that fear can be dispelled through gentle education.

Take Provo High for example.  Once it was largely Caucasian when I was a student there less than a generation ago.  In recent years, however, 1/3 of the student body has become Hispanic and the Caucasian population is now just over half.  The Caucasian student population is dealing with cultures their parents never did and parents do not know always know how to help their children.  As an ASL and Arabic teacher at Provo High School, I often spent time in my classroom giving pointers and opening up the dialogue to help students learn how to communicate.  There was a genuine desire to reach out but some students didn’t know how. One question that came up was, how do you fit when you’re not a genuine member of the other community?

Murfreesboro is similar to many racially dominated areas of the world no matter where you travel.  Racial identity and cultural norms are important in these societies.

Think about the debates about immigrants losing their identity and culture from their home countries to absorb into American society.  A liberal may praise someone who is trying to preserve their culture yet despise someone in Murfreesboro who is also trying to preserve their culture.  Canadians and British like the live-along-side-each-other approach.  Not British but forever from India.  So do we apply the “Salad Bowl” approach to Murfreesboro?  Not American but forever Muslim.  If everyone votes will that be a problem?  Can they live side by side and not influence each other?

Attention for Muslims

The Murfreesboro mosque issue has brought a lot of attention to Muslims in America.  Hopefully amidst this attention, there will be more understanding and more tolerance.  And I hope there will be more discussion about the dynamics of intercultural relations.

Filed under A Comment · Tagged with CNN, Murfreesboro, Muslims, Muslims Next Door, Soledad O'Brien