Oklahoma bombing reactions show distanced ideals
By Rev. Paul Dechant
We are a nation founded on ideals. Our Constitution and the Bill
of Rights express our belief that every person deserves equal
treatment in a court of law and in the arena of public opinion.
Here a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Here a
person is guaranteed a fair hearing. Here there is the freedom and
room for differing beliefs and opinions.
Recent events, especially those surrounding the bombing of the
federal building in Oklahoma City, reveal how far away from our
ideals we are today.
No where is this more clearly evidenced than in the rush to
scapegoat our Muslim sisters and brothers for the bombing. Mosques,
Islamic Centers and individual Muslims (or those presumed to be
Muslims) have received personal, written and telephone threats of
all kinds.
Our news media was quick to pass on scurrilous connections
linking the Oklahoma City bombing with the bombing of the World
Trade Center in New York City. The tenor of the coverage switched
significantly when the accused were revealed to be white American
males rather than some "fanatics" from outside the borders of our
country.
Voices are now heard defending or justifying the bombing. Such
reactive racial or religious stereotyping or ideological responses
display our need for a better educated public, especially about
Islam and how narrow our thoughts have become.
We at the University Religious Conference at UCLA remain hopeful
about our future. We call upon our elected and religious leaders to
promote the unity of the human family and to foster tolerance as
well as an appreciation of the diversity of our beliefs, lifestyles
and cultures.
We call our news media to a stricter standard of fairness and
accuracy in reporting. And we call upon the American people to
examine where the path we are on will lead us.
The previous viewpoint was submitted by Dechant on behalf of the
Board of Directors Executive Committee of the University Religious
Conference at UCLA.