Greetings and Salutations….

Kind of an interesting article posted on the Net: Read it here… In short, it discusses the rise of mindless prejudice against Islam in the USA in the years since 9/11.

Why might this be happening, some people are asking, and what has happened to the idea of America being built on the concept of religious freedom? Well, that is a complicated question, with no simple answers. However, I see a few factors that are affecting the situation and thought I would add them here.

One factor is that, no matter how much we would like to deny it, humanity is a tribal animal, and, so, tends to form closed groups. Anyone within the group is instinctively trusted, and, anyone from outside the group is instinctively distrusted. The level of tolerence for outsiders is often directly related to how “different” they are and how much they are viewed as a threat. The more differences, the greater the threat, because those within the group do not know how the outsider will act or react.

Another factor is stress. Today’s world has changed radically from the world of 20 years ago. While in some ways, the changes have been good, in other, more important ways, that change has added chaos, confusion and stress to our lives. Today, thanks to the un-ending firehose of bad news that comes in through the television and Internet news sources, it may seem that the world is a far more dangerous place than it really is. Adding to that is the chaos produced by the fact that anyone can get a “bully pulpit” on the Net and it can be very hard to discern what is true and factual and what is nothing more than the mindless spewings of ignorance and prejudice. Adding to that is the chaos of the world wide financial situation, which has brought fearful uncertainty to the lives of many folks who felt that they had a solid and comfortable base that they could trust. TO have that financial security ripped away by actions of faceless strangers can be especially upsetting and will leave one with terrible feelings of helplessness and lack of control – which brings on MORE stress..

Although I do not understand why, I have seen a huge increase in intolerance and “touchiness” over the past few decades. During the 60s and 70s, during that great social revolution of the Hippie movement, the pendulum swung away from suppressed feelings and thoughts to massive openness and attempts to “know oneself”. and such. However, as the 70s ended and the 80s came upon us, the pendulum swung back and we have the “ME” generation that seemed to focus on what they could get for themselves rather than others. Sadly enough, that social change seems to have frozen, leaving us with too many folks that are not only focused on maximizing their own lives, but, view everyone else as an enemy who is going to steal their success/riches from them. In a way, it reminds me of Gollum from Tolkien’s writings.

The question left in my mind, though, is “what can we do to fix the problem?” Alas, there is, I believe, nothing that can be done to totally eliminate the problem. However, perhaps on a personal basis, though, we can address the issue by making sure that we do not remain silent when we see examples of this sort of mindless prejudice and hate presented to us.

Pleasant Dreams

Dave Mundt