Religious Tolerance

By now everyone must be familiar with the Newsweek/Koran story. Yesterday I saw that Tom Bevan over at realclearpolitics made an interesting observation in a blog entry entitled "Beyond the Newsweek Story":

One thing I haven't seen, however, is any condemnation of the rioters themselves. The dismissive tone of most of the press reports I've read convey the impression that the rioting is understandable. Almost as if the alleged affront to the Koran somehow justifies the death of 15 people and the wounding of many more. As un-politically correct as it might be to say, let's stay focused on the truth: Newsweek's story did not kill people. Muslim mobs killed people.

Indeed, by not condeming such behavior I think we are engaging in the "soft bigotry of low expectations" regarding Muslims. It's almost as if people have taken a "boys will be boys" attitude toward such developments. Let's look at when the shoe is on the other foot.

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Saudia Arabia has little or no respect for Christians. According to the U.S. State Department:

Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, is illegal. Proselytizing by non-Sunni Muslims also is not permitted, and the promotion of non-Salafi Sunni Islam is restricted. Muslims or non-Muslims wearing religious symbols of any kind in public risk confrontation with the Mutawwa'in [religious police]. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs sponsors approximately 50 so-called "Call and Guidance" centers employing approximately 500 persons to convert foreigners to Islam. Some non-Muslim foreigners convert to Islam during their stay in the country. The press often carries articles about such conversions, including testimonials.

The Government requires noncitizens to carry Iqamas, or legal resident identity cards, which contain a religious designation for "Muslim" or "non-Muslim." There have been reports that individual Mutawwa'in have pressured sponsors not to renew Iqamas, which had been issued for employment, of individuals for religious reasons.

And yet do Christian fundamentalists riot over this? Would Saudi Arabia be blamed if they did? If a bunch of Christian fundamentalists from a Deep South "red state" sacked a Saudi consulate, say in Houston, would attention immediately turn towards Saudi policy that disrespects the Bible? Of course not, the blame -- justifiably -- would be on the wackos who couldn't keep their emotions in check.

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I imagine some would argue that the alleged flushing of a Koran down the toilet is only the latest U.S. insult towards Islam. But is that true? Is the U.S. really that anti-Muslim?

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Let's review U.S. policy with respect to Islam in recent years. Under the Bush Administration the U.S. has liberated two Muslim countries from oppressive regimes, including one -- Iraq -- in which Muslim religious leaders were murdered by government forces. President George W. Bush has gone to lengths to demonstrate his respect for the religion, calling it a "religion of peace" -- despite the murder of hundreds of Americans by Muslim fanatics -- and making a point of meeting with members of the Muslim community. The U.S. also provided tens of millions of dollars in relief aid following the recent tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia that affected millions of Muslims. President Bill Clinton, meanwhile, committed U.S. forces to interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo that saved thousands of Muslim lives.

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On the other side of the ledger there is convincing evidence that suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists have been tortured at Guantanamo Bay, and we know for a fact that prisoners were humiliated at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Civilians, as in all wars, have also perished at U.S. hands in both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

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Seems to me that the U.S. on balance has treated Muslims fairly well, especially considering the terrorist acts that have been committed against U.S. citizens almost exclusively by Muslim extremists. The question shouldn't be why U.S. policy provokes such outcries, but why some Muslims go absolutely crazy over mere allegations and demand a level of tolerance that so many of their governments do not afford to members of other religions.