Chuck Asay’s cartoon of July 8, 2005 on “Religious Fascism” exploits this tragedy to  indulge in more Muslim bashing.  He says Muslims are not demonstrating in the streets against the London bombings, unlike the good American Christians who demonstrated against segregation in the US in the 1960’s.

Chuck is taking a non-existent editorial license to rewrite history and take credit for American Christianity against segregation.  It was mainly the African-Americans who demonstrated to free themselves from the bonds of segregation and racism put on them by their fellow white American Christians.  The cartoon portrays a blatantly incorrect picture in the “We Shall Overcome” panel, for not a single black face is to be seen.  And of the whites who participated in the movement, many were sympathetic Jews who had themselves experienced discrimination because of their religion.  And some of the African-Americans, like the Black Panthers, reacted with violence against the oppression of racism.  Certainly, the African American leaders who spoke up against segregation and led demonstrations, like Martin Luther King Jr., derived their courage and strength from their Christian faith.  However, it was not the majority white American Christians who demonstrated against segregation in the US, as Chuck would have us believe.

The terrorists are not going to be impressed by street demonstrations, for they are now like mad dogs, beyond reason, and a street demonstration by Muslims would be yet another easy target for them.  Are street demonstrations the sole measure of concern, are Chuck and others are not willing to listen to what Muslims are saying and doing?   Muslims in Britain have spoken out against this terrorist attack.  Top Muslim leaders religious leaders like Sheikh Tantawi of Al-Azhar in Cairo, and heads of state like President Musharraf of Pakistan have spoken out against terrorism. The Pakistan military has been engaged in seeking out and fighting terrorists, at some cost to themselves. Those of us who visit Muslim countries speak to our friends and relatives about the criminality of terrorism.  In mosques, local religious and community leaders have made it clear to Muslims, and non-Muslims willing to listen, through sermons, lectures and discussions, that terrorist acts are barbaric and contrary to Islam.  I do not know what to make of Chuck’s obsessive insistence that Muslims hold street demonstrations to protest at every act of terrorism, while ignoring the real problem of oppressive conditions that exist in Muslim countries which breed terrorism.   And it varies here in America, where you can get a demonstration in a flash against a shelter for the homeless in the neighborhood, but difficult to get people to demonstrate against crime and drug dealers in the same neighborhood. And does Chuck really understand the meaning of “Religious

Fascism” that he tosses out so lightly, and does he realize to whom else it could be applied here and today in the United States?

And let’s be consistent.  Am I mistaken that there were no mass street demonstrations in American cities by white Christian Americans against the 1963 bombing by the KKK in Birmingham, Alabama of the Baptist church that killed four African-American girls?  And when and in which cities did the American Christians demonstrate against the massacres in Rwanda, and the cold-blooded execution of seven thousand Bosnians by the Christian Serbs in Srebrenica?  Is there a different criteria to be used against Muslims?  I admit I do not understand Chuck’s agenda, for it is not clear whether Chuck wants to contribute to better understanding or wants to further fan the flames of misunderstanding and misrepresentation?