The Manhattan Mosque and Burning Qur’ans: Placing an American Dilemma in Perspective

This discussion concerns the recent controversies surrounding the proposed building of a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan and the threatened burning of the Qur’an in Gainesville, FL.
America’s Muslims have become a flashpoint for public debate about freedom of religion, freedom of speech, civil rights, and U.S. relations with Muslim majority countries in the Middle East and Asia. Recently there has been an outcry about the propriety of building an Islamic center (called a mosque in the media) near the site of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. There also appears to be a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and incidents around the country, including threats to stage burnings of the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an. Four UCSB faculty experts from the departments of Religious Studies and History will discuss and assess these developments with an aim to enhance public understanding of the issues involved and their consequences

The panel features Juan E. Campo (Religious Studies) on the meaning and functions of mosques and the Qur’an in the eyes of Muslims and non-Muslims, Richard Hecht (Religious Studies) on Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, Kathleen Moore (Religious Studies) on the Manhattan Islamic Center and the law, and Salim Yaqub (History) on the implications anti-Muslim incidents might hold for U.S. foreign policy. Wade Clark Roof (J.F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society, Director of the Walter H. Capps Center) will be the panel convener and respondent.

Please join us for this important event.

The event is presented by the Department of Religious Studies, the Center for Middle East Studies, the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies, and the Center for Cold War Studies and International History.

hm 11/1/10