The video we watched in class, about the "Ground Zero Mosque" was very interesting and it got me thinking; what if, everything else the same, it had been a Christian extremist group, instead of Islamic, that held responsibility for the acts on 9/11? Would we have this knee-jerk reaction against an unrelated denomination of Christian faith building a church? I think that we wouldn't, and I think the reason why it wouldn't is because of in-groups and out-groups. Most likely, every believer of a Christian faith would immediately cast this fiction extremist faction into the out-group category, however, unlike Islamic faiths, there is the link to the in-group due to the overall religious "umbrella" of Christianity. So while, yes we would still hold outrage, hurt and confusion toward the acts of terrorism, we would not so quickly lash back with the idea that all Christians are terrorists in the same way America lashed out against Muslims. Also, as they said repeatedly in the film, this was to be a cultural center; not just a place of worship; and how many cultural centers with ties to the christian faith have popped up in the mean time, not only in New York but everywhere?
This article from CNN, Four ways 9/11 changed America's attitude toward religion, was an interesting read. It talks about some reactions you maybe wouldn't expect. One of the more perceivable reactions would be the rise in "out-of-the-closet" Atheists; due to the religious ties of this act, they came out in force to criticize not only those religious groups tied to 9/11, but all religions. Another change was an increase in interfaith ideology and the promotion of a more pluralistic ideal; and along with this came a sudden increase in overall education about Islam. Sadly this didn't stem the violent backlash of the American opinion on the Islamic peoples... they are still singled out in airports, accused of being terrorist and all around shunned and discriminated against. Finally this article talks about our self perception as a largely christian nation and how we believe nothing is left to chance; yet the randomness of who would live or die depending on if they were sick or their flight overbooked, took us from our idea of invincibility.
"We had this sense of specialness and invulnerability that 9/11 shattered," he says. "Given that a large section of the world's population deals with random violence every day, one of the outcomes of 9/11 should be a greater feeling of solidarity with people who live in cities like Karachi in which violence is a part of everyday life." Recognizing that vulnerability, though, is difficult for some Americans because of how they see their country, Schmalz and others say. They say Americans have long had a triumphalist view of their place in history. Certain beliefs have been ingrained: Tomorrow will always be better; we're number one. The term "American" even reflects a certain arrogance. It casually discounts millions of people living in Central and Latin America. The 9/11 attacks, though, forced many Americans to confront their limitations, says Rev. Thomas Long, a nationally known pastor who has been active in post 9/11 interfaith efforts."To me this analysis once again brings home the in-group verses out-group mentality and shows yet another reason we blame all Muslims, not just those with Al-Qaeda. We view ourselves as American, the center of our world, the greatest country on Earth... and with this attack not only is it us versus them, but it showed us that we are a lot closer to the rest of the world than we like to think, it's not us versus them; just all of us.
This article from CNN, Four ways 9/11 changed America's attitude toward religion, was an interesting read. It talks about some reactions you maybe wouldn't expect. One of the more perceivable reactions would be the rise in "out-of-the-closet" Atheists; due to the religious ties of this act, they came out in force to criticize not only those religious groups tied to 9/11, but all religions. Another change was an increase in interfaith ideology and the promotion of a more pluralistic ideal; and along with this came a sudden increase in overall education about Islam. Sadly this didn't stem the violent backlash of the American opinion on the Islamic peoples... they are still singled out in airports, accused of being terrorist and all around shunned and discriminated against. Finally this article talks about our self perception as a largely christian nation and how we believe nothing is left to chance; yet the randomness of who would live or die depending on if they were sick or their flight overbooked, took us from our idea of invincibility.
"We had this sense of specialness and invulnerability that 9/11 shattered," he says. "Given that a large section of the world's population deals with random violence every day, one of the outcomes of 9/11 should be a greater feeling of solidarity with people who live in cities like Karachi in which violence is a part of everyday life." Recognizing that vulnerability, though, is difficult for some Americans because of how they see their country, Schmalz and others say. They say Americans have long had a triumphalist view of their place in history. Certain beliefs have been ingrained: Tomorrow will always be better; we're number one. The term "American" even reflects a certain arrogance. It casually discounts millions of people living in Central and Latin America. The 9/11 attacks, though, forced many Americans to confront their limitations, says Rev. Thomas Long, a nationally known pastor who has been active in post 9/11 interfaith efforts."To me this analysis once again brings home the in-group verses out-group mentality and shows yet another reason we blame all Muslims, not just those with Al-Qaeda. We view ourselves as American, the center of our world, the greatest country on Earth... and with this attack not only is it us versus them, but it showed us that we are a lot closer to the rest of the world than we like to think, it's not us versus them; just all of us.
