Muslim Religion in America
America is one of the countries where popular cultures develop and spread to the outside world in a very short time. Muslims, for example, is perceived to be terrorists and many times one can mistake a Muslim for being a terrorist. This can be attributed to the fact that there have been some serious attacks which have happened in the united state and the terrorist responsible claim to be the masterminds and who happen to be Muslim (Ogan et al., p34). In the world today, most of the notorious criminal gangs around the world are associated with the Muslims and this causes the society to have the perception that all Muslims are terrorists and dangerous people.
For more than a decade today since the horrific attack that took the lives of more than 5,000 people, Americans are still traumatized by the act and the people behind the attack. The individuals who took the blame belong to the Muslim community and since then, the American perception of the Muslims has changed (Bulut & Helen, p37). Many have been killed and persecuted in public as a way of showing how disappointed they are in the religion and in many cases the students and other school going individuals have received threats over their religion. Muslim girls have been forced to uncover their heads and body parts like the Americans just to avoid the humiliation of being a Muslim. Today, Muslims all over America are viewed as enemies of the people and serious discrimination is happening in the lower levels of the society. Refugees have been chased away out of America especially those that come from Syria just because they belong to the Muslim community (Ogan et al., p35). They all are considered to have some affiliation to the terrorist who has been killing and bringing down buildings and other nations especially in the African continent where they have drastically increased in numbers over the years.
Many occasions the Muslim Americans are forced to speak out their view on the issue to do with terrorism and this always causes problems. Among the Muslim Americans, there are those who speak out their views about terrorism and there are those that do not want to talk about it especially in the public. This raises serious questions and concerns for the Americans who are left thinking ill of the Muslim religion (Bulut & Helen, p35). The faith groups in the United States are also left in a state of a dilemma over the issue of the Muslim religion and how they should be considered in any case. In the recent times, Muslim Americans have been forced to get involved in talking about the issue of terrorism just to ensure that they are not considered as terrorist all in one single group.
Americans have subjected some level of prejudice, especially towards the Muslims since they recognize them as harmful people who do not deserve to be among the community where people live. Prejudice among the Muslims was ever high, those who reported such cases were less in terms of their number, and this indicates that the religion is always in trouble especially among the youths. Many Muslim Americans respond that they are prejudiced against the Americans and at times worse can happen considering the situation (Cainkar, p93). Muslim Americans are the only groups of people who have in numerous times complained to be discriminated based on their race and their religion. Walking freely as a Muslim American has not been easy since the larger groups of people regard them as very dangerous and they can even kill just to protect their generation.
The Muslim community in the United States has been recorded as the most loyal when it comes to matters to do with the United States government. They do not get into trouble as many times as the Americans do and it is in rare cases, which have been caused by an American. With this kind of reputation, it is only courteous to consider this group of the Muslim Americans as humans too but that is not the case (Bulut & Helen, p56). Many have been subjected to being labeled as rebels in any law that is passed by the government and sentenced to prison where they receive beating where some die while still in the hands of those who are meant to protect them.
The popular culture also thinks of the Muslim Americans as being very sympathetic and associates of the al Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS and other major groups of terrorist (Nimer, p28). Religious groups consider these facts since they view them as spies and informants to these dangerous groups of characters. American religion is not the only group of people, which think that Muslim Americans are terrorists and that they associate with these groups but also the Muslim Americans themselves think amongst themselves of the same issue. Jews in America have a number of times been caught discussing the issue of Muslim Americans in their societies many occasions. This is an indication that the society where Muslims are found there will not lack a person who is linked to the terrorists (Cainkar, p90). Even during the election periods, Muslim Americans are perceived to have the capability of rigging the election and causing violence over the results. It has become a custom that in every population where there are Muslim conducting a serious matter, there will always be ample security personnel’s who have been directed to deal with anyone who causes disruptions and minor chaos. This does not only happen in America but also everywhere in the world where there are Muslims involved.
Americans view the Muslims and the religion as brutal people who have no regards for humankind. At some point, this is true considering an occasion where a husband and his wife both Muslims were involved in the shootings that happened in San Bernardino (Ogan et al., p28). From this act, which has just happened in the recent times, Anti-Muslim in America has increased to higher levels almost 10 times how it was in the previous years. The current president of the united states before he got into power was on many occasions heard and seen giving the American community hope that the Muslim religion will be gone immediately he gets into power. Considering his massive win, this is an indication that the Muslim American religion has no hope remaining in America. Muslims and anyone who belongs to the Muslim religion was in the late December denied access into America as a rule, which was passed and echoed by the president himself. All the people who came from a Muslim nation were thoroughly checked to ensure that he or she is not associated with terrorist (Cainkar, p95). This only happened to the Muslims as the other communities were allowed access into America without much trouble. The faith of being a Muslim in the American culture is long forgotten and soon there will be occasions where some of the Muslims will start changing their religion to a more preferred religion to escape the discriminations that take place in their religion.
Hatred is the culture of the Americans against the Muslim Americans. The law enforcement bodies especially the state and local authorities have been in the front line subjecting hate to the Muslim Americans regardless of their age, health condition or physical appearance (Bulut & Helen, p40). Violence threats have been reported but there are no actions taken against the perpetrators since the Muslim religion is blamed for every bad thing that happens in America. Any individual seen as he or she comes from the Middle East part of the world is seen as a threat including children. The Muslim religion is seen as a religion, which does worship terror and bloodshed in every aspect (Ogan et al., p30). The religion has been threatened in a number of states in America especially through a series of acts done against the Muslims. One such occasion is when a person who was riding a motorcycle opened fire towards an Islamic center where it is believed to be an area where one cannot miss the prominent people in the Muslim community. By this act, it means that civilians are now taking the matter into their hands and eliminating any Muslim religious figure leader in the society (Cainkar, p94). The religion has continued to receive serious threats and death sentences since they all are viewed as terrorist and murderous who bring nothing good to the society apart from death and suffering.
Works Cited
Bulut, Elif, and Helen Rose Ebaugh. "Religion and assimilation among Turkish Muslim immigrants: Comparing practicing and non-practicing Muslims." (2013). Ogan, Christine, et al. "The rise of anti-Muslim prejudice: Media and Islamophobia in Europe and the United States." International Communication Gazette 76.1 (2014): 27-46.Cainkar, Louise. "Migrations of Islam: Muslim American Voices in the 21 st Century." (2016): 92-95.
Nimer, Mohamed. The North American Muslim Resource Guide: Muslim Community Life in the United States and Canada. Routledge, 2014.
Lichtblau, E. (2016). Hate Crimes Against American Muslims Most Since Post-9/11 Era. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/us/politics/hate-crimes-american-muslims-rise.html?mcubz=2
Younis, M. (2015).Perceptions of Muslims in the United States: a Review. Retrieved from: http://www.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/187664/perceptions-muslims-united-states-review.aspx
