Trumping the Religion Card

First of all, I want to share a post published by Peace Corps in the Midwest.  It looks like I succeeded on getting my mother AND my host-mother on a Peace Corps publication!  I also had an article about the holidays published in the same media. 

http://midwestpcvs.com/2015/12/08/chicago-ranks-no-4-among-peace-corps-top-volunteer-producing-metro-areas-in-2015/

http://midwestpcvs.com/2015/12/11/peace-corps-holidays-macedonia/ 

Alright, on the main topic of this post which addresses that which was all over the news for the past week.  Trump wants to ban any foreign visitor who practices Islam from entering the United States.  Obviously that means that many refugees from the Middle East would be denied a haven in the USA, if Trump had his way.  It also means that Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa, from all over Sub-Saharan Africa, from Pakistan, from Bangladesh, from Indonesia, from Malaysia, from Turkey, Bosnia, and Albania, from Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, minorities from Western China and the Southern Philippines and India etc. would not gain a right to apply for residency in the USA.  It would mean that foreign businessmen, tourists, family members would not be able to make important business meetings or see their loved ones in the USA.  His proposed policy obviously does not make sense.

Yet his proposed policy highlights an important issue- Islamophobia.  Islamophobia is starkly different in the United States and in Europe.  As a whole, it seems that our understanding of Islam is unfortunately painted by the September 11 terrorist attacks, as well as our war on terror primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Europe, millions of refugees are fleeing through Turkey for haven in Northern Europe, where North African migrants are so prominent in Italy and France that these countries' European citizens feel that they are under cultural pressure from these ethnic groups. Contrary to how Americans see Islam, Europeans understand that Islam is a part of their history, and that it is not a distant, incomprehensible threat, but a way of life for millions across the Mediterranean. 

Like most people in the United States, I have never lived in a Muslim-majority community before joining the Peace Corps.  Thus my media played a big role in depicting how Muslims, compared to the typical American, were both different and the same across the globe.  I would try as best as I could to develop my idea of a Muslim people by basing my presumptions on the typical, Muslim-minority citizens within the United States.  However, this was flawed as well since these individuals were minorities differentiated by their traditions and faith, but nonetheless striving to integrate.

Not until recently have I lived in a place that was majority Muslim.  As many of you know, I have recently moved to Tetovo, which is estimated to comprise of 80% Albanians, almost all of which are Muslims.  Five times per day, I hear the call to prayer that bellows from the minarets.  There are cafes frequented by Albanians that do not serve alcohol.  I do not blink when I see a group of women wearing hijabs walking down the street.  Yet besides having to speak in Albanian when shopping, my life is basically unaltered from my previous two years in Peace Corps.  There is nothing inherently different from being Muslim.

I mentioned previously that Albanians and Macedonians, both coming from the Balkans and under the Ottoman rule for hundreds of years, have more in common than they would like to admit.  There are also many Muslim Macedonians (referred to as "Turks") and Muslim Roma who are regarded well despite the difference in religion.  Again, this is because the strife between many Albanians and Macedonians is a national issue, not a religious one.  It just happens to be the case that both nationalities also differ in terms of faith.

 So here is my point- being Muslim does not make somebody inherently different.  I work with plenty of Albanian youth who have the same ambitions as Macedonians of working in a professional internship abroad or who want to make a positive impact on their society.  If I do not feel alienated when I am surrounded by Muslim residents, then Americans should not feel threatened with a few families of Muslims in their midst. 

I am a Christian minority living in a Muslim-majority town.  That is something that I forget almost every single day, unless I force myself to remember it.  I believe that the majority of humankind has a set of beliefs that trumps religion and faith.  Belief in compassion, justice, democracy, fulfilling one's potential- these are a few of the values that often drive us more to be great individuals than religion.  Islamic State is preventing the rule of law under any of these ideals, and instead of fleeing to stable Arab states that otherwise are still autocratic and repress civil liberties, Muslim refugees are fleeing from Islamic State to Europe and the United States in the hope of living a fulfilling life.  They are fleeing tyranny under a skewed interpretation of a religion in order to live out a life in dignity.  And these are the same people that many political leaders and their supporters want to shut out.   The world's recent bout of Islamophobia is a reminder that it is surprisingly easier to build walls than it is to build institutions, tolerance, and understanding.