Intolerance

[Az]

Anyone catch the This American Life broadcast this weekend? Here is a link to it from their website http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/322.mp3 . Anyone not familiar with the format its an hour long show that talks to common people in America about their life oriented along common themes each show. This weekends show covered Muslims in America.

The first story they covered was about a Muslim family living in a small town in America and how their child was affected by her school. Serry's daughter had a teacher who informed her that she was doomed to hell because she was not a Christian. She did not accept Jesus as her personal saviour.

This lead to a series of tramatic events that resulted in the destruction of their family and expulsion from the community.

This is not America. No American would stand by and let someone or their family be destroyed like this. This can only happen when no one speaks up against intolerance. When you are silent then those who do speak control the society. And if they speak in voices of hatred and intolerance they are speaking for you unless you speak up.

[NanceGreggs]

1. "If they speak in voices of hatred and intolerance ...

... they are speaking for you, unless you speak up."

Very well said, Az.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. This is awful

I can't imagine a public school teacher being allowed to get away with saying things like that!

I think it ironic that in many small towns, the only Muslim family is the doctor's. If communities decide to run them out of town, they are losing good medical care.

[Cleita]

7. I had things like that said to me because I was Catholic fifty years ago.

I guess today the new scapegoats are the Muslim kids. These teachers who are usually from homogenous areas of middle America really need to be given some tolerance training as a job requirement and fined or otherwise reprimanded when they break the rule of tolerance.

[Az]

8. Tolerance training was the upshot

All the teachers and school board was put into tolerance training classes and the teacher that initiated the issue was put into a special program. But the damage had long been done. The family had been split apart. Serry no longer sees her children because she has to work two jobs and go to school to support them all. And they had to leave the community.

[etherealtruth]

9. My oldest child was told similar things ...

... in Fredericksburg Virginia in the mid 1990's. Forgot to mention that we had an Agnostic Catholic/ Muslim household. It was the "idol worshiping' part of his heritage that they had a problem with.

[etherealtruth]

3. Hideous things have come from the religious right wing ...

There has been a real upsurge in intolerance (of just about every kind) since the increase in prominence of the "Christian" fundamentalists in public life. (Note: I am not referring to Christians, I am talking about the evil charlatans like Falwell, Robertson, Dobson ...).

I think the country was making progress until the Reagan years; it has been all downhill since.

[dogday]

4. Read this post I wrote about standing up for right....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2935397&mesg_id=2935397

[Stuckinthebush]

5. This is terrible

I am scared to death to say anything to my children's school about the 10 minute devotional we endured the other night at a PTO meeting. The "devotional" was given by a local Baptist youth minister with Bible in his back pocket. It was a discussion of the importance of allowing prayer in school.

I literally had to hold my wife back...literally.

Now, my decision is to write to the principal and discuss the inappropriateness of having such devotionals at school sponsored events. We live in a community with many different beliefs as well as atheists and agnostics. The principal is a reasonable woman and may very well be allowing the well-meaning mothers leading the PTO to take charge of their organization. My fear, though, is that it could get out that my family opposed devotionals and that my children could suffer.

I can't imagine if I was Muslim. I'm sure that the eventual slings and arrows would be brutal. I applaud this family for their courage and am not sure that I would have similar levels of courage.

[Big Kahuna]

6. Pretty much the same thing happened to us in Oklahoma.

I listened to that story on This American Life, and definately feel for that family.

[mzteris]

10. my daughter's 7th grade teacher

told the kids in her classroom that "all gays are going to hell".

She didn't know my daughter's dad is gay.