Muslim author ( and the man named by US News And World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders), Eboo Patel responded to a statement made by the Atheists, Agnostics and Freethinkers (AAF) group today.
AAF seemed to purport the now age old idea 'pitting free speech against fundamentalist Islam'. Which is just silly. Eboo Patel agrees and elaborates in his article featured in Huffington Post, entitled Defending Free Speech Against Fundamental Islam?
Patel includes the statements of Muslim Students' Association leaders on university campuses that assert their (Islamic) belief in freedom of expression in his piece. He focuses a big portion of his article on addressing the following statement made by the AAF: "No one's sacred cow unwrites basic human rights. You can cater to the whims of fundamentalists, or you can cater to fundamental rights, but you can't do both."
Some of the most poignant, logical, and 'right-on!' type statements from Patel's piece are included for the reader below. Be sure and visit the relatively new 'Religion' section of Huffington Post to find cool articles by a plethora of individuals covering all types of religious topics!
NOTE: Patel's book 'Acts of Faith' was used to connect and bond the students involved in the Jewish Muslim Alternative Spring Break at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2008.
Eboo Patel drives home his point:
- Muslim Students Associations (MSA) on all three campuses said they believed in free speech and were opposed to fringe groups who threaten violence, too.
- When something gets called a "Sacred Cow," it must be attacked. When the mantle of free speech is raised, it must be defended. And when Muslims are in the picture, all 1.5 billion of us somehow get linked to the Dragon Threatening Civilization rather than being viewed as your neighbors just trying to go about our business.
- Is a sick grandmother a sacred cow? If you staple pictures of that image on bulletin boards and write, "Isn't cancer hilarious?" are you defending free speech, or are you just being a jerk?
- Is the "N" word a sacred cow? If you walk into the middle of Harlem and scream that slur at the top of your lungs, are you a First Amendment hero, or just a bigot?
- Let's not pretend that Islam is somehow beyond offense in 21st-century America.
- It is true that fringe Muslim groups are quick and public with their ugly threats. Mainstream Muslims spend an awful lot of time saying we have nothing to do with those groups.
- It's not so different from saying that the black students on your campus remind you of the armed robber you saw on the five o'clock news because they share a skin color. That's called bigotry when it involves race, and it's called bigotry when it involves religion.
- Come on folks, this isn't about Free Speech vs. Fundamentalist Islam. This is about Actions that Build an Inclusive Society vs. Actions that Marginalize a Minority Community.
