What will happen if intolerant attitudes towards Muslims do not end? There is the potential for an increase in anti- Muslim sentiments amongst U.S. citizens. Islamophobia will manifest amongst those who are uneducated on the topic of Islam and are furthermore sensitive to stereotypes made by individuals who harbor anti- Muslim feelings. There has been a sustained, violent manner against American Muslims, which not only gives more examples of prejudice in the U.S, but also increases danger to the overall neighboring community. Attacks on people who resemble Middle Eastern people have been documented and these individuals were not at all Muslim. Some of these individuals were not even of Arabian descent. However, they were still threatened and some even assaulted. Violent attacks on Muslim owned property may harm individuals who use these stores. If Muslims continue to be persecuted, an excess of businesses may give way to failure and hurt the overall economy of the U.S. The potential for religious intolerance may develop to the level where intolerance of numerous other groups that resemble Islam arises. Anti- Muslim feelings can also affect the U.S’ foreign policies with other countries and the wars they fight in Arabian land. If more people support the anti Muslim position then they will be more likely to favor war with Arab countries with the justification of fighting terrorism. Although these are a few simple outcomes that may develop with the persistence of this problem one can already see that anti Muslims feelings have many negative influences that will only worsen with the increase of these sentiments.
This post is awesome! I knew that the issue surrounding the mosque was an issue, but I really had no idea about what will come out of the disagreement in a few years. Muslims will continue to be persecuted in the U.S. if we do not let them build this mosque. Like you said, the anti-Muslim sentiments could affect our foreign affairs with Middle Eastern countries. Even though this felt like a stretch for a second, this point is very true! Although I think that building the mosque is the right thing to do, I am not sure if this will force Americans to accept Muslims as they are in our country.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Based off of your comment, the idea of Americans accepting Muslims makes it seem that Muslims are "the other" group. In actuality there are many Muslims who are Americans living in the U.S. To be a Muslims does not mean you have to be a middle easterner, which is a common misconception. Many Americans have converted to Islam or a are born into a Muslim family. These people are U.S. citizens who have lived here their whole life here and know America as their home, so to generalize that Americans don’t accept Muslims is inaccurate because there are a lot of American Muslims. But it’s true that some Americans don’t accept Muslims.
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