FALL 2010


THE WEST ViRGiniA UniTED METHODiST • www.wvumc.org


9


United Methodists Address New York Mosque Conflicts


By Heather Hahn, UMNS


Each year, on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Rev. Myr- na Bethke has visited the World Trade Center site to remember her brother who perished in the towers that day. Te United Methodist pastor does


not blame Islam for those attacks or her family’s loss. She associates the faith with the Muslims she has joined for interfaith Tanksgiving services and the mosque that welcomes visits from her confirmation students. “Tis, to me, is Islam,” she said, “not


the people who got together and de- cided to hijack the religion as they hi- jacked the planes.” Bethke, pastor of Red Bank United


Methodist Church in New Jersey, also supports the Islamic cultural cen- ter planned near ground zero. She is a member of “September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,” a group of the bereaved that announced its support for the project in May. However, others who lost loved


ones that day vehemently oppose the proposal, and the issue has become a source of political debate on cable news and the campaign trail. Te controversy has not been lim-


ited to the proposed center in lower Manhattan. In recent months, con- frontations have broken out over the construction or expansion of mosques across the United States — far from New York’s hallowed ground. Tese in- clude protests in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Sheboygan, Wis.; and Temecula, Calif.


Called to be neighbors Te United Methodist Book of Resolu- tions calls for “better relationships be- tween Christians and Muslims on the basis of informed understanding, criti- cal appreciation and balanced perspec- tive of one another’s basic beliefs.” Another resolution calls for United


Methodists to denounce discrimina- tion against Muslims and “counter stereotypical and bigoted statements made against Muslims and Islam, Ar- abs and Arabic culture.” When it comes to the issue of allowing


Muslims to build mosques, supporting their right to worship is not just in line with the First Amendment of the U.S.


PHOTO COURTESy OF UMnS/MiKE DUBOSE


Rifaat Bedawi (left) and Imam Abdulrahman Yusuf prepare to help volunteers paint over anti-Muslim graffiti at the Al-Farooq Mosque.


Constitution, said the Rev. Stephen J. Sidorak Jr., the top executive at the Unit- ed Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns. It’s also part of Jesus’ command to love our neighbor, which as the parable of the Good Samaritan shows, can include those of different religions. “If we want to repair the breach that


opened up between some Christians and some Muslims on Sept. 11, 2001, if we want to redeem the tragic events of that day, we must — as Isaiah said — come now and reason together,” Sidorak said. “Tat’s clearly the foun- dation of any interreligious work.” Welcoming local mosques also may


help national security. A two-year Duke University study on American Muslims and terrorism concluded that mosques might actually be a deterrent to the spread of militant Islam. “Our findings are that healthy, robust


Muslim communities can be a bul- wark against radicalization,” said Da- vid Schanzer, an associate professor at Duke and one of the study’s authors. “We don’t know exactly why indi- viduals radicalize. But most terrorism studies show that individuals who go down that path feel alienated. Tey don’t feel that they fit into (the) wider society in which they live.” A strong Muslim community that


is part of the mainstream can offer young Muslims the support they need without them turning to radical cler- ics online, he said.


Competing moral claims Te proposed Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan won the unanimous approval of New York City zoning au- thorities. Plans call for the building to contain a fitness center, swimming pool, space for art exhibitions and an auditorium for public programs as well as a place for Muslim prayer. Organiz- ers say their goal is to promote toler- ance and community cohesion. However, the ethical case for locating


an Islamic center near ground zero is more complex. Some critics have likened the debate


surrounding the Islamic cultural cen- ter in Lower Manhattan to the acri- mony that followed when Carmelite nuns moved into a convent near the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. Af- ter a public outcry, Pope John Paul II ordered the nuns to move in 1993. Taking a similar stand, some argue that


it is insensitive to those who lost loved ones for Islamic center organizers to build near the World Trade Center site. “When I look over there and see a


mosque, it’s going to hurt,” C. Lee Hanson, whose son, Peter, was killed


in the attacks, said at a New York City public hearing, Te New York Times reported. “Build it someplace else.” Bethke sympathized with those who


oppose the Lower Manhattan center. “You want to be sensitive to people’s


feelings,” she said, “but at the same time remember that we do have reli- gious freedom in this country.” Te Rev. Stephen Bauman, senior minister of Christ United Method- ist Church in Manhattan, has worked with Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf, the re- ligious leader who is spearheading the project. Te pastor has no doubt the center is exactly what Rauf and others purport it to be. “I think the church ought to be about


supporting it,” Bauman said. “It ought to be expressing a voice of compassion and hospitality.”


Long road ahead Addressing the mosque disputes and other issues in United Methodist-Mus- lim relations is going to take more than a press release of solidarity or conference resolution, interfaith advocates said. Bethke and other United Method-


ist leaders urge fellow Christians to learn more about Islam and get to know their Muslim neighbors. When you know someone well, she said, you won’t judge that person by the worst acts committed in his religion’s name. Te Rev. Omar Al-Rikabi has been


watching the angry responses to mosques around the country with in- creasing concern. Al-Rikabi, the United Methodist campus minister at the Uni- versity of Arkansas at Fayetteville, is the son of a Muslim father from Iraq and a United Methodist mother from Texas. “As pastors and laity we need to do


the long, difficult work of countering the false fear, incorrect history and bad theology that is out there,” he said. “It is seeping into too many of our churches, sermons and small group studies. We need to begin by looking at the start of the story: Genesis One: God created humanity in his image. …Every human is of sacred worth and loved through the work of Christ on the cross.”


Hahn is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter.


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