Shirley from Chicago writes: "I'm not sure how to talk to my kids about the Muslims. I see all the images on the television, and my kids see them too. They haven't asked, but I think I should talk to them about it. I realize that I don't know much. Where should I start?"
Fantastic and timely question, Shirley. Just the other day I had a conversation with a good friend of mine about Islam. The discussion started with misogyny and then meandered all the way to the disputed Mosque in Manhattan. Both of us headed for the library because we knew less about the subject than we thought.
Approximately 20% of the world's population is Muslim. That's almost a billion and a half people. Therefore, it is impossible to make any generalizations about Muslims. They are like any other group of people, you've got to judge them one at a time.
For my kids, I try to separate and qualify some of the irresponsible chatter that I hear:
1.) Al Qaeda - under the leadership of Osama bin Laden - destroyed the World Trade towers in New York. Islam did not. That distinction is often blurred by some of the alarmists and propagandists, and that kind of misinformation can filter down to kids. President George Bush II was quite wonderful in his understanding regarding this dissimilitude. Our beef, he said, was not against a religion but against terrorists, regardless of what god they worship.
2.) Part of the proposed Mosque in Manhattan will be, if it's built, a community center, complete with swimming pool, gymnasium, and work out areas. My agnostic kids would be welcome to join, as would New York Mayor Bloomberg's jewish grandchildren. It would be like the YMCA with an "I" instead of a "C".
3.) The history of Islam is no more violent and destructive than other religions. Google 'The Crusades," or "The Spanish Inquisition," and you'll see that many Christians have historically ignored the pacifist teachings of Jesus Christ. I saw footage once of a group of Buddhist monks attacking a rival group of Buddhist monks. No religion is immune from hypocrisy.
4.) Bin Laden wanted to spark conflict and animosity between Islam and the West, and he, to some degree, has been successful. Unfortunately, there are bad people out there. You don't want to lie to your children about that. But it's important to emphasize that no single group has a monopoly on evil. Bad people are the minority, and they come in every color, shape, religion, and shoe size.
Other than the above, start by telling your kids that Islamic parents love their children every bit as much Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or Hindu parents. Your kids should understand that!
Daddydoit
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