It's not about the mosque -- it's America's war on "the Other"

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
It's not about the mosque -- it's America's war on "the Other"

It's time we admit these seemingly disconnected battles over
"anchor babies, mosques, and a black man in the Oval Office
are all part of the same war against "the Other," and that we are in the fight of a lifetime.


.............

Which brings us to the present crisis: Mosques in America. It should tell you something that the backlash against Muslims practicing their faith in America is far greater in 2010 than it was in the months immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. That's because the political firestorm with its epicenter in lower Manhattan really has nothing to do with 9/11 or its aftermath, and everything to do with "the Other" the awful forces and fears that have been unleashed in the last couple of years -- fears that craven politicians like Gingrich, Palin and the formerly rational Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota are eager to surf into the White House in 2013. If the Manhattan mosque controversy were really about our 9/11 sensibilities, how does one explain the opposition to other Islamic houses of worship from Tennessee to California to Staten Island?

America, we are in for the bumpy political ride of a lifetime. It will take enormous courage for defenders of two centuries of religious freedom and tolerance toward both religious and economic refugees to stand firm in the face of the kind of raw public anger and emotion that have caused backbone-impaired politicians like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or supposed progressive stalwart Howard Dean to wither in mere days. Our determined minority may be barely clinging to our cherished traditions -- as best expressed by President George Washington in 1790 when he wrote "the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens" -- in the face of this onslaught for the next few years.

Let's face it: This country has long had its Know-Nothings and its Birchers and its McCarthyites, but it never had gizmos like Fox News or Sarah Palin's Twitter feed to fuel toxic ideas so far so fast. It's time we admit these seemingly disconnected battles over "anchor babies, mosques, and a black man in the Oval Office are all part of the same war against "the Other," and that we are in the fight of a lifetime.

more:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/The_Other_and_the_ripping_apart_of_America_2010.html

Mosques all over America are coming in for attacks. It's pretty sad how this is growing now.

Bryant

:hi: Unfassbar. :freak:

...but that just doesn't help any.

Fact is, people that well know better want this struggle...they want this hate...because it serves their purpose.(pandering to hate for votes)

It sets up yet another us v. them battle (exact same war as ever though)....if you're for the mosque then you're against us...so you're the enemy too...you're anti-America/American, a terrorist, you're destroying America, trying to convert everyone...you're the problem....in short...the other.

America's Right: Equal Opportunity Haters.

Perspectives based on social identity. What other kind of "Other" is there, I asked, because we had gone through age, gender, socio-economic, nationality, sexual orientation, etc. etc., but hadn't discussed spiritual or religious affiliation.

"Did you hear about that OTHER religion that wants to build that 'mosque' at 'Ground Zero?" I asked sardonically
by way of example.

"You mean those Americans?" I replied to myself.

"No, those OTHER Americans." I said to the end the rhetorical example.

Catholics and the Irish were treated pretty bad when they immigrated heavily in the late 1800's. My own family came over from Italy and my Mom told me her uncles and father were seen as mobsters by some in her neighborhood. Ironically, my Mom dated a boy from a Japanese family in the 60's and her father was not happy about that at all. It has shifted now to Hispanics, blacks have always had it tough, gays have it rough since they started standing up for their rights. The list goes on and on. Let us not forget that women who wanted to be treated equally had it tough for a long time too. The United States seem to promise freedom but our past shows how ugly we have been to those not white, male, anglo-saxon.

The fearmongers of the time portrayed Asian immigration as "the Other" trying to get a foothold on "our" land to take it over by sheer numbers. Some historians cite the 1924 Immigration Act (and reaction to the raw racism of it) as one of the big factors in setting Japan on the course for militarist takeover (and, subsequently, the invasion of China and the Pacific Theater of WW2).