Lunatic fringe (I know you're out there)

The following email, dated Feb 2006, accompanied by my own contemporary commentary, will assuredly rile my "fans" and get some knickers askew. But, I feel it's worthy enough to publish so bring it on, baby. The letter is in response to the the outcry surrounding cartoons of the prophet Muhammed that circulated around that time. It was written to the leader of the campus Muslim Association and has been confirmed to be true by snopes.

Dear Moslem Association:

As a professor of Mechanical Engineering here at MSU (Michigan State) I intend to protest your protest. I am offended not by cartoons, but by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders, murders of Catholic priests (the latest in Turkey!), burnings of Christian churches, the continued persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, the imposition of Sharia law on non-Muslims, the rapes of Scandinavian girls and women (called "whores" in your culture), the murder of film directors in Holland, and the rioting and looting in Paris France. This is what offends me, a soft-spoken person and academic, and many, many, many of my colleagues. I counsel you dissatisfied, aggressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceeded with your infantile "protests." If you do not like the values of the West — see the 1st Amendment — you are free to leave. I hope for God's sake that most of you choose that option. Please return to your ancestral homelands and build them up yourselves instead of troubling Americans.

Cordially, I. S. Wichman, Professor of Mechanical Engineering

I agree with much of the sentiment written here and applaud the professor for standing up. His forthright manner of speaking is unusual in a higher academic setting where embracing diversity is the mantra. And, in general, it's MY mantra. I love that America is a tapestry of global cultures and values. I revere our differences, respect freedom and individual rights and the litany of principles which make us uniquely American. But I reject that it is no longer acceptable to hold these values and criticize those which are diametrically opposed. It is just as much our first amendment right to challenge abhorrent behavior. You see, I've recently finished reading Hirsi Ayan Ali's memoirs, Infadel, which gives me a new perspective; one that I did not fully embrace previously. Ali, an African Muslim woman, recounts heinous acts perpetrated against her by her own people in the name of Islam. She recalls that the Qu'ran teaches that "non-believers", i.e. non-Muslims, must be converted or extinguished. Perhaps it is a gross misinterpretation or has been perverted over time but, at least in some parts of the world for some believers (& not all of them marginalized), this is a common theme. The Dutch filmmaker the professor is referring to in the email is the man who documented Ali's life. He was murdered after the release of the film, again under the pretext of protecting and upholding the will of Alla as written by Muhammed.

A friend asked me recently if a good Muslim can be a good American. On face, given that America is intrinsically all-inclusive and encourages individual freedom, I should think the answer to that question is a resounding yes. However, knowing something of the rigidity of the practicing - key word, practicing- Muslim faith and that their guiding principles couldn't be further from our own, the answer is a definitive no. I have personally known many a decent and progressive Muslim born in other countries - none of them practicing I might add, but each of them share values of liberty and justice for all. It's the fringe element of ANYTHING that's frightening and toxic.