Debate over the proposed construction of an Islamic center two blocks from the Ground Zero site in Manhattan has heightened confusion about Islam in America, a panel of Boston University professors said Thursday.
About 130 students and faculty members gathered in the College of Arts and Sciences to listen to BU professors discuss myths revolving around Islam in a forum titled "Ground Zero Mosque Controversy: What You Need to Know."
"This forum was a response to what I think is a rise of hatred due to the newspapers and the media," said event coordinator Adam Seligman, a religion professor. "We, as the faculty of the School of Religion, have a responsibility, especially in the Boston University community to have forums to discuss these issues."
Each of the three panelists spoke for about 10 minutes and then audience members were able to voice their comments in a question and answer session.
"Arguments against the mosque at Ground Zero rely on a specific logic: those that will participate in the community center and the people who attacked the World Trade Center practice the same Islam," said panelist Teena Purohit, a CAS assistant professor.
By labeling the Islamic cultural center in Manhattan simply as "a mosque" instead of an Islamic cultural center, Americans perpetuate the notion that religion, particularly Islam, is separate from culture, she said.
"This is a cultural as well as a religious center," she said. "This Islamic center will include a mosque, but it will also have a swimming pool, an auditorium, a library and restaurants."
Throughout her presentation, Purohit sought to dispel the common belief that Islam has been practiced in the exact same way throughout history and the world.
"Islam originated in the Arabian Peninsula, but it spread globally and very fast," she said. "When it spread it transformed, and it transformed culturally. In each context, Islam took on a different form. This is because the character of the religious tradition was shaped by local traditions and cultural practices."
As a result, there are Chinese Muslims, Indian Muslims and Bangladeshi Muslims who all practice Islam in very different ways, Purohit said. Because of these vast differences in the religion's practice, it is ridiculous to associate the gruesome attacks of 9/11 with all Muslims, she said.
Fellow panelist and CAS assistant professor Kecia Ali said that with 2.5 million Muslims in America, there is a great deal of diversity within the religion and at times these vast differences have caused problems.
"Various ethnic groups, classes, political tendencies have a presence and influence inside the Muslim community as well as outside this community," she said. "Muslims in America struggle to sort out how to be both responsible inhabitants and citizens of this nation and effective participants in a broader global community."
Graduate School of Religious Studies student Christine Hutchinson-Jones, a Ph.D candidate in religion and society, said that mainstream America often fears that religious minorities will ultimately undermine the American way of life.
"Many Americans long feared that Roman Catholics were more loyal to the pope, viewed as a foreign dictator operating among us through an army of cardinals and priests, than to the United States," she said.
She added that many Americans fear that religious minorities are "incapable of participating in our democracy, if not committed to destroying it."
School of Theology post-graduate student Hosea Williams said he appreciated the panelists' civility.
"I liked the forum because there was open discussion and open dialogue, and I liked that it was civil," he said. "I think that people have a longing to understand and learn about other cultures and religions, and I think that this forum will help Americans in learning about their own culture."
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