dominos

Earlier this week, Jon and I were on part of a panel for a public program about American Muslim reverts that the Islamic Center put together. I think that I may have come across as a bit radically progressive, but I've only had good feedback so far. There was one point in the program where an audience member asked about how various religions can find peace with each other, without being completely unified themselves. A really good question and we had a good discussion about it, coming to the consensus that it's something that has to be done on the personal level, not something that's possible to reach at some high level, at least at this point in time.

Really got me to thinking about how I can further that incredibly worthy cause. I really give very little back to the community. Sure, I'm nice, I'm polite, and I don't litter, but when a lot of people don't meet those minimums, the nice ones of us have to pick up some of the slack. So, I'm working on that right now.

But then, you have to think, what's the point? Why should Muslims become more involved in giving back to the larger community, why should we be so concerned about what those of other faiths think of us? Of course, the realpolitik reason---and thanks to my undergradutate work, this is what I immediately think of---would be to avoid persecution. But I don't think that it would. Regardless of how hard we work to become integrated, regardless of how hard we work to become respected, all it would take is another 9/11 or domestic suicide bombings (something I'm afraid could become reality were we to invade a certain militantly Islamic nation) for our work to be completely lost.

It is the quintessential comparison almost to the point of being ineffective, but the Jewish community in Germany in the 1920s was very integrated, with many Jews being respected members of military and government, and their language and customs intermingled with German ones. Then---wham! A government building was burned to the ground, the powers that be declared that it was the work of Jewish terrorists, and bingo---persecution, round up, ghettos, mass extermination. And, folks, the Muslim community in the US is not even regarded as well as the Jewish community in Germany was.

Which is why Islam is so freaking awesome. We don't act decently to get avoid persecution in this life; we act decently to get blessings in the next. What a beautifully effective social contract! Play nice. Leave the rest up to God.

Moving to Canada might be a good idea in the meantime, though. Tie your camel up and then ask God to keep it there, you know.