Since the controversy about the potential for a mosque to be built at Ground Zero there has been a noticeable difference between the media’s view of what Islam is, and the public’s view of what Islam is. It is an odd situation where neither one is completely right or wrong. What Islam is, could never be summed up in a blog post, but that does seem to be precisely what is being missed in this debate. 100 people of the same faith could all practice and interpret their faith very differently. A significant cause of much of the friction and controversy is that people aren’t accounting for this. However, the lack of a full and honest discussion on this topic may be causing the most trouble.
The media has not adequately done their job. They often either play down or ignores elements of Islam or the Muslim culture the Americans find rightfully disturbing. We have been attacked in the name of Islam, and certainly it isn’t fair to connect all Muslims with that act, but it can’t be ignored that the religion has been used numerous times as a justification for violence. Also, women are not only not treated as equals in many Muslim countries, but are often treated very poorly. Again, that doesn’t apply to all Muslims, but ignoring and not reporting on these two glaring problems is not objective journalism. When news organizations do this they are clearly advocating and not reporting, and the American people are smart enough to know the difference.
However, the reaction to this poor reporting/journalism is for bloggers and others to do their own research and come to their own conclusions. Certainly it is a good thing for people to do their own research, and obviously as a blogger, I’m not about to discourage blogging. However, what has come out of many blogs is something of caricature of Islam that isn’t fair. Religious texts have passages that are either taken out of context, or can be viewed in a particular way that looks bad. That’s true of Islam and Christianity as well as other religions, however, to sum up a religion based on specific passages, customs, or interpretations really isn’t fair. Religion and culture are tied together, but are not the same. Location, background, and a myriad of other factors influence how people practice their faith, and a cursory explanation based on minimal information from someone outside that faith is unlikely to provide an accurate or fair summary of a religion as vast as Islam.
That being said. When there is a problem with radicalism, which unfortunately Islam clearly has, ignoring it in the name of political correctness is equally absurd. Historians don’t skip over the dark ages because Christianity went through a radical phase, the media should give the American people a full view of current cultures and issues instead of trying to sanitize the news and guide people to a particular view point. The media took sides in the Ground Zero mosque debate instead of objectively reporting. Even if their intent was good, the result only served to further fan the flames of an already heated argument.
