My good friend the Muslim

A presidential candidate advocates precise tracking of American Muslims (Donald Trump); another, the bombing Islamic State terrorists in Syria until the "sand glows" (Ted Cruz; does this sound like using nuclear weapons, and if the result is glowing sand, would he not think that innocents could be harmed, too?); and also banning Muslims from traveling to the United States (Trump again). Bernie Sanders seems a little flummoxed by the whole Islamic thing.

Trump doesn't even have the after-thought and perhaps insincere decency to follow up his remarks, as he did a few months ago when he uttered his opening racist comments about Mexicans, by saying of Muslims in general, or even more particularly of American Muslims, ". . .and some of them are good people."

Public figures are saying things about followers of Islam that are, frankly, stupid, mean, hurtful and unfair.  Would it be surprising if an American Muslim were to say "Gee, I feel as if other people are looking at me like they don't trust me or they just don't like me?" I would be surprised if there were not a lot of that feeling going around right now.

Which makes me wonder something: 
How many of these stupid-talking, suspicious people have actually known a Muslim?  (And, yes, at other times in America's past similar stupid, mean, hurtful and unfair things were said about Catholics, Jews, Quakers, Japanese, Africans, Chinese, Irish, Poles, Italians, gays, lesbians and others; unfortunately, it is a long list.)

If Trump, Cruz or anybody else with similar ideas has any curiosity about learning of Muslims as individuals, then they should go out and meet some.  Because their eyes would be cleared by facts and reality, instead of being dimmed by cynicism and ignorance.  Or, they can come talk to me.  Any time.  Because I, a WASP-y sort from the suburbs, have known Muslims.  And I am happy to be able to say so.

By the way, they are all good people.  Nothing odd there; most people I have met are good people.  "Most" as in "almost all."

For three decades I was fortunate to count one American Muslim, in particular, as a very good friend.  Gone for some time now, taken by an unexpected illness, I feel that if he were able to speak he would welcome the chance to put substance to my story.

Egyptian by origin, American by choice, my friend was remarkable for many reasons.  I could tell you about his family and his accomplishments, but there is no reason to do so because it would all be so mundane and ordinary in its "American-ness."  He was a friendly gentleman, open and welcoming to all.  You would have a hard time picking him out of a crowd of Christian/Anglo/European Americans, not just because of physical appearance, but also because of shared attitudes, choices and values.  His only characteristic that suggested he started life out "somewhere else" was his accented speech.  But lots of people have accents.  My uncle from the coast north of Massachusetts had a pronounced accent, too, even though he grew up speaking English and had as much European ancestry as can be genetically stuffed into any human body.

Over time, my Egyptian-American friend occasionally helped me to meet others in the local Arab-American community.  All were of a similar nature to my friend -- kind, generous, caring of friends and family to be sure; but also appreciative of their good fortune of being American by choice, as well as Muslim.

Knowing something about the life-experiences and accomplishments of all of these people, I think that an outside observer would see these as noteworthy, but also typical, examples of the American Dream come true.

And, I learned a few things about Islam from him.  There is one very meaningful thing in particular that sticks with me:  Different religions, faiths and cultures can and do share many of the same principles, and this is true with Islam and Christianity; conflict between them is caused not by value differences held by the majority of adherents, but by minorities who twist and pervert the basics for their own narrow and selfish interests.

Discriminating against a class of people -- as the attitudes of Trump and Cruz would have us do -- because of the misdeeds of a relatively small number of that class cannot be healthy for America.  We are a society that prides itself on a history of welcoming newcomers and others who are different, because they add substance and value to that which we call America.  Admittedly, there is something of an American Mythology in that history.  But a peoples' mythology can tell something of what that people wants to be in the future, as well as what it thinks it might have been in the past.  A peoples' mythology and its cultural foundation become one-and-the-same.

Do Americans want to change that foundation?  I do not think so.  It is an old foundation, and a good one, made better over time through the fact that our reality, in fits and starts, has achieved important milestones in living up to the mythology.  Apparently, there are still milestones yet to be reached. But there is no good reason why we should stop that progress.

If, as Trump and Cruz would have us believe, we should feel a sense of fear caused by the actions and intents of a very small group of shadowy and violent people -- thousands they may be, but that is a tiny fraction of the Islamic population, and of Earth's billions of humans -- then this is the time when it is most important to be inclusive of others.  Do we make ourselves safer by playing into the recruiting message that is vital to the existence of those who would commit violence -- a message which says that America is committed to the unfair and discriminatory treatment of Muslims -- by institutionalizing that type of behavior in our government and our daily lives?  No, I think that makes us less safe.

Mr. Trump, Mr. Cruz and anybody else -- Republican, Democrat, Know-Nothing, Independent, Decline-to-State; it does not matter what political label is used, all comers are welcome -- who would like to gain a different perspective on Muslims, Islam and the Arab-American community:  If you are not able to go out on your own and meet some new people --  I am available to you.  I can help you.  You know how to reach me.

(If I hear anything from the Trump or Cruz campaign organizations, I will be sure to pass the news along!)