Islamaphobia

  "Half of Americans now consider Islam incompatible with American values" 

     This is a recent statistic from a survey conducted by the Public Religion Institute. The post 9/11 era has now revealed serious issues regarding Islamic practice in the United States. I recently watched a Current Television channel show called, "Vanguard: Islamaphobia", that focused on the growing fear around terrorism and Islamic Religion both in England and the United States. Below is a video summarizing the important points on the issue. Please focus on the American aspects instead of the English aspects if possible.



     As stated in the video, the whole idea fueling this disagreement and hatred towards Islamic practice in the United States is FEAR. Similar to the hysteria associated with witch-craft in pre-constitutional Salem in Arthur Millers, The Crucible, Americans have now started to associate all people of Islamic faith as terrorists. It is this fear, and fear alone, that has inspired the establishment of many anti-Muslim alarmist groups across the nation. The leader of an anti-Muslim American group violently stated in the video above that the Muslim people are, "Wolf in Sheep's clothing". This saying was too me very disturbing because it portrays them as at first glance innocent looking human beings, but underneath this vulnerability was a deceptive animal capable of destruction. The use of the contradicting animals, the wolf and the sheep, help to guide us towards a distinction between friend and enemy. I believe that these groups are targeting and blaming the innocent Muslim people, because the fear of not having anyone to target in America after a tragedy is hard for people to cope with.

   Also stated in the video by an American Muslim deeply involved in the issue is that Americans think, "Muslims are the threat to America, [when] in reality they themselves are the greatest threat to America". What do you think about this statement? Does it have any merit? Can you think of any examples where innocent Muslim Americans have been blamed, targeted and even tormented in the United States because of their religious affiliation?