November 7, 2009
Courtesy Of World News Network
When asked about the Quran, surprisingly, most Americans were like the young store clerk who replied, "North or South Korea?" After years of involvement in the Middle East, and more recently initiating and fighting two major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq-predominantly two Muslim countries, I assumed Americans would have a lot to say about the Quran, or Islam's holy book. I was wrong! On main streets and at convenient and department stores, and even in churches, when asked what they knew and thought of the Quran, the majority of Americans claimed they had never heard of it. Neither did they know it contained the words of Prophet Mohammad and is sacred to 1.5 billion Muslims.
So I narrowed my interviews and selected people who kept abreast of news and world events. A fellow educator shared how even though he had heard a lot of propaganda in the news media and at church about the Quran, he thought it was a book of goodwill and compassion. A police officer thoughtfully said the Quran had a legitimate place in the world, and he respected the fact that it promoted a belief in one God. He also believed the Quran was a book about love and mercy. A farmer told me he believed the Quran meant the same to Muslims as the Bible means to Christians, and their views should be respected.
One religious fundamentalist thought the Quran was an evil book that caused wars. Others alleged Islam was a false religion and the Prophet Mohammad plagiarized the Quranic scriptures by using the Old and New Testaments. One individual claimed she had no problem with the Quran, but was troubled by the Wahhabi interpretation as practiced by the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other extreme sects. She believed Wahhabism was not only a belief adhered to by the ruling family in Saudi Arabia, but its followers funded the hatred of women and a violent belief system. She added, though, that just like the Spanish Inquisition did not resemble Jesus, Wahhabism does not reflect Prophet Mohammad's life.
After interviewing many people on their views of the Quran, and after realizing that very few knew of what the Quran and Islam were, I realized that perhaps the problem might be Neo-Americanism. Unlike Americanization-which tried to assimilate newly arrived immigrants by teaching them English, history, and the responsibility of citizenship, and unlike Americanism-which became a new religion to militarily spread American civilization and its monopolistic values around the world, Neo-Americanism is only about "me" and my needs and wants. It consists of the latest fashions, music, foods, movies, and sports teams. It is apolitical in nature. Its adherents are unfortunately historically illiterate.
It is concerned only with the materialistic present and the values of entertainment and of Corporate America. It is a system that redefines purpose and meaning. When internalized, Neo-Americanism censors out all other ideas, including other faiths and others histories. In other words, there is no meaning outside of consumerism, materialism, and a corporate culture that regulates thinking and behavior. History, politics, religion, philosophy, and the quest for God and truth, are crowded out. Even on college campuses, when I asked students about the Quran, they said they never heard of it. After explaining the Quran and Islam, they claimed their professors did not teach such things. Their entire view and knowledge of the current Middle East consisted of: "It was a mess. Why bother!"
Ironically, I just purchased a used book: The Dictionary Of Cultural Literacy, What Every American Needs To Know. It was a national best-seller and claimed to define fundamental information everyone needs to know. The first chapter under Contents is The Bible (pages 1-26). The Quran is not mentioned until page 95 in the World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion section. This is what it says: "The sacred book of Islam, Moslems believe that the teachings of the Koran were revealed by God to the Prophet Mohammad." On the same, and adjoining, pages, Jehovah Witnesses, Judaism, Juggernaut, justification by grace through faith, Franz Kafka, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, King James Bible, and kosher, have much larger and more informative articles.
The Mapping Global Muslim Population has revealed that one in four people practice Islam. Americans had better start taking notice of the Quran. They had better understand how Prophet Mohammad ended centuries of retaliation, and how the Quran promoted highly advanced Islamic civilizations which have enriched the world. They had better recognize how the Quran has improved human rights, just laws, a better understanding between men and women, and the concept of ummah, or the global community of all Muslim believers. They had better realize too that just like Jews and Christians, there are some in Islam who impose their own militant and sexist views on scripture. And finally, Americans had better learn to tolerate devout religious devotion and the sacred belief of others, instead of trying to militarily force its brand of secular individualism and corporate hubris-which is teetering on the brink of irresponsibility and mayhem-onto others.
Dallas Darling - darling@wn.com
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' Daily Digest at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
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