be on the lookout (part two)

There is a infamous book and movie called Not Without My Daughter, which is the true story of an Iranian Muslim who seems like Prince Charming to his American wife, but later, after he takes her to meet his family, he becomes abusive and won’t let her leave Iran with their child.

My friend Nabil is a Arab Christian pastor who works in his home of Palestine. He once told me that he was engaged to a European woman who read the book, then broke off their engagement.
He also told me of being asked to speak in churches, only to have them cancel when they find out that he is an Arab.

I can relate to the Not Without My Daughter problems. Ever since that movie came out when I was in high school people have always asked, “So if your mom is American and your dad is Muslim, is it like that movie? Does your dad beat your mom and make her wear the veil?”

I found it very interesting when I first moved to Wilmore to learn that the highest rate of domestic violence calls in the county were from seminary couples. It seems like Christian American men have a problem abusing their wives, too. Double standard?

There has always been a low-grade bigotry towards Arabs and Muslims in this country. After 9-11 the demonization went into overdrive, because that is how you fight “the enemy.” Once an Iraq War vet came up to me and apologized for the views he had held towards Arabs. “The trained us to believe all of you were evil and killers,” he lamented.

Remember the equation most people follow:

Arab = Muslim = Terrorist

But imagine a college football stadium in December with 80,000 fans. They are all part of the same school and they are all wearing the same colors. But what does the camera focus in on? The four crazies who have no shirts on with their bodies completely painted, funny wigs, too much to drink, and are dancing and screaming like idiots. They are a very small minority of the overall stadium of fans, and the ones whom most of us look at and say, “Fools. I would never do that.”

Well… that’s the Arab world.

And within the Muslim world there are many differences as well. It is too easy to simply say, “All Sunnis believe this,” or “All Shiites are like that.” Consider these two people:

One is so conservative he is considered a fascist, and the other is so liberal she is considered a threat to America. But what do the two have in common? They are both registered United Methodists.

Why does any of this matter? Because we need to understand that demonizing and stereotyping have always led to deadly ends, and the same is true right now in the Middle East. Because we should grieve just as much for an Arab who dies as we do for an American. Because the life of a Muslim from Palestine is just as important to God as that of a Christian from Georgia. We must remember that the enemies of America are not necessarily the enemies of God.

All of us are part of the humanity created in God’s image, and through the Son a way has been made to break the cycle of unforgiveness, violence and death. This is what Advent is important, because it reminds us to prepare the way in our lives, and the world around us, for the Christ who will come with mercy and justice.

As long as we continue with an us vs. them mentality, we will never fully walk in the ways of peace and reconciliation. We must consider what actions we as Christians are supporting in the Middle East that would cause us to be seen as villains. We must recognize that all of humanity has issues of extremism and violence. We need to examine what it means to be the enemy, what it means to be humanity, and what Advent tells us about breaking the cycle.

Sadly, the demonization continues on both sides, and we seem to be going in the wrong direction: