Here's what is going on: The Learning Channel (TLC) has aired a few episodes of its new show "All-American Muslim" which is intended to profile the lives of five Muslim families living in Dearborn, Michigan. The organization called Florida Family Association (FFA; you can see their web site at floridafamily.org) has published an article on its web site stating its unfavorable views on Islam and Muslims, and advocates that people contact those companies that have advertised on the TV show and demand that they cease that advertising. A news article in this morning's Los Angeles Times indicates that Lowe's has stopped advertising on "All-American Muslim" because the show has become a "lightening rod"--according to a statement by a Lowe's representative--and possibly in response to communications it has received that seem to have been inspired by the FFA web site.
FFA's position is obscenely bigoted. Their statements on this subject show religious intolerance and ignorance. You can search it out and read it for yourself, but here are excerpts:
- "The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish." (Question to FFA: What's wrong with showcasing the great majority of American Muslims? Check out the title of the show! It clearly says it is about "All-American" people, not "anti-American" people. Does FFA have the ability to understand simple grammar?)
- "One of the most troubling scenes occurred at the introduction of the program when a Muslim police officer stated 'I really am American. No ifs and or buts about it.' " (Question to FFA: Would you like it better if this Dearborn police officer were to deny being an American?)
- "Many situations were profiled in the show from a Muslim tolerant perspective while avoiding the perspective that would have created Muslim conflict thereby contradicting The Learning Channel’s agenda to inaccurately portray Muslims in America." (Note to reader: yes, that sentence is lifted directly from FFA's statement as it appears on their web site; and, no, I don't understand it either; my feeling is that all religions deserve tolerance from the adherents of other religions, and my guess is that TLC does not claim an agenda to "inaccurately portray Muslims in America.")
I know nothing else about Florida Family Association, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they have other activities that are honorable. They are entitled to express their opinion just as we all are, but the way that they have done it in this case is dishonorable as well as ignorant.
On the other hand, a good friend of mine is an all-American Muslim, and for 25 years I have known him and his family to be nothing but honorable and fair, as well as tolerant of all people and beliefs. I wonder if the leadership at FFA has ever taken the time to strike up a conversation with a similar person? If so, they have given no evidence of such outreach.
As for Lowe's: well, like any other company they can choose where to spend their advertising dollars in whatever way that pleases them. However, if in this case they have made a decision based on the type of position and reasons advocated by FFA, then Lowe's has brought similar dishonor upon itself.
To finish with this -- I believe that FFA's position on this subject is shared by only a very small minority of Americans. There's no doubt that certain individuals in any religion will hold extreme views that can be harmful to others. However, common sense, personal experience, and sometimes even a TV show help us to realize that most people can and do coexist peacefully with those around them, and do not deserve to be tarred by a strident group that speaks from ignorance and inexperience.
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