It simply does not matter that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two Chechen-born brothers suspected of perpetrating the attacks were Muslim. Any religion, or lack of one, can be co-opted and used by a person or people as a justification for extremism.
What matters right now, and into the future, is the way the faith and values of every other American can either help us resist the fear-generating effects of terrorism, or help that fear grow and take root like a weed, choking out trust and diversity.
In a statement immediately following the capture of Dzhokhar, the younger brother, President Obama declared this attack had “failed” because “we will not waver from the character and the compassion and the values that define us as a country. Nor will we break the bonds that hold us together as Americans.”
Will that be true? It is not entirely true now, as the fearful fault lines of our society have been very much in evidence this past week: religion, race and even equal rights.
But we can make it truer if we access the values of community, compassion and trust-building held within our faiths.
There is a kind of American civil religion that has diversified in recent years, typified by the way the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are often quoted. This week my Twitter feed frequently contained versions of this iconic statement by King: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.”
Now that’s a civic and religious bond we can try to live into as Americans.
It is therefore telling that the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was apparently kicked out of a Boston mosque about three months ago, after he stood up and shouted at the imam during a Friday prayer service. The imam had held up Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example of a man to emulate, recalled one worshiper. Enraged, Tamerlan stood up and began shouting, “You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!”
Actually, you can, as that Boston imam proved, and other Muslims often do quote King. Eboo Patel of Interfaith Youth Core is a prominent example of such Muslims.
We say in the peace movement, “When you mirror your enemy, you become your enemy.” So what you mirror determines your faith response, not the other way around. After the Boston bombing, the national Islamophobes immediately came out of the woodwork, engaging in “reckless scapegoating,” as Wajahat Ali described in an excellent article in Salon.
Racism along with religious bias was in evidence as well, typified by the incredibly insensitive statement by John King of CNN that the bombing suspect was a “dark-skinned male.” Untrue.
And now, we have pressure from some conservative Republican politicians to deny Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his civil rights as an American citizen, and treat him in the discredited category of “enemy combatant.” This proves some have not learned anything about the destruction of American civic and religious values that occurred during the Bush administration’s torture and detention policy, a policy that has not been completely overturned. To prove this point, Republican state Sen. Greg Ball tweeted about Dzhokhar, calling the suspect a “scumbag” and advocating torture.
What matters right now, and into the future, is the way the faith and values of every other American can either help us resist the fear-generating effects of terrorism, or help that fear grow and take root like a weed, choking out trust and diversity.
In a statement immediately following the capture of Dzhokhar, the younger brother, President Obama declared this attack had “failed” because “we will not waver from the character and the compassion and the values that define us as a country. Nor will we break the bonds that hold us together as Americans.”
Will that be true? It is not entirely true now, as the fearful fault lines of our society have been very much in evidence this past week: religion, race and even equal rights.
But we can make it truer if we access the values of community, compassion and trust-building held within our faiths.
There is a kind of American civil religion that has diversified in recent years, typified by the way the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are often quoted. This week my Twitter feed frequently contained versions of this iconic statement by King: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.”
Now that’s a civic and religious bond we can try to live into as Americans.
It is therefore telling that the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was apparently kicked out of a Boston mosque about three months ago, after he stood up and shouted at the imam during a Friday prayer service. The imam had held up Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example of a man to emulate, recalled one worshiper. Enraged, Tamerlan stood up and began shouting, “You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!”
Actually, you can, as that Boston imam proved, and other Muslims often do quote King. Eboo Patel of Interfaith Youth Core is a prominent example of such Muslims.
We say in the peace movement, “When you mirror your enemy, you become your enemy.” So what you mirror determines your faith response, not the other way around. After the Boston bombing, the national Islamophobes immediately came out of the woodwork, engaging in “reckless scapegoating,” as Wajahat Ali described in an excellent article in Salon.
Racism along with religious bias was in evidence as well, typified by the incredibly insensitive statement by John King of CNN that the bombing suspect was a “dark-skinned male.” Untrue.
And now, we have pressure from some conservative Republican politicians to deny Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his civil rights as an American citizen, and treat him in the discredited category of “enemy combatant.” This proves some have not learned anything about the destruction of American civic and religious values that occurred during the Bush administration’s torture and detention policy, a policy that has not been completely overturned. To prove this point, Republican state Sen. Greg Ball tweeted about Dzhokhar, calling the suspect a “scumbag” and advocating torture.