In the weeks leading up to the House hearings on “the radicalization of American Muslims,” anti-Muslim rhetoric continued apace in some segments of the media. At an Islamic Society of North America dinner in Arlington, Virginia last month, over 200 Muslims shared their concerns as panelists discussed the challenges facing the Muslim community. Professor Ingrid Mattson, the immediate past president of the organization, began the program by reminding the audience, “We are not alone — our interfaith family has our back.”
This is not the first time Americans of faith have stood behind a religious group singled out for suspicion. In 1921, at a time of widespread, virulent defamation of Jews, John Webster Spargo, a lay Methodist minister, social critic and activist, said “It should not be left to men and women of the Jewish faith to fight this evil … Anti-Semitism commands our special attention today … but my plea is not for pro-Semitism.” Rather, he opposed efforts to “divide our citizenship on religious lines.” He did so out of “loyalty to American ideals.” In a lecture later that year, Spargo called religious hatred “American treason.” In his eyes, the “Jews’ problem” was actually an American problem.
READ MORE
Tags: antisemitism, interfaith understanding, islamophobia, muslim jewish relations, peter king hearings
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
