Don't Even Say The Word

The word being 'mosque' or 'Islam' or 'Muslim'. In the last century it was 'Catholic' or 'Pope'. What is wrong with some people? Why are they so insecure? Even in the rich town of Wellesley you have these people. As in many New England towns, the Wellesley schools offer a course on world religions. Most of these courses involve visits to the houses of worship of the religions studied. Well, Islam is a world religion, perhaps it has the most members. So, the students visited the mosque when a service was being held. Some of the kids knelt when the prayers were being said. A parent who was chaperoning the trip recorded this and gave it to a group called "Americans for Peace and Justice". Then the brouhaha followed.

Two qualifiers:

1. Where are the moderate Muslims who can actually make a coherent case for their cause? There is as much coherence in their cause as in that of the major religions.
2. The teachers were probably remiss in not specifying beforehand what the modes of conduct should have been.

In this country we have always had people who hate differences. Why do we give them such notice?