Congressional controversy

Sounding more like an edited version of Team America than an American statesman, Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode has attacked America's embrace of religious diversity.\nGoode has decried the election of Keith Ellison, America's first Muslim-American congressman, and objected to Ellison's choice to place his hand on the Quran in taking his oath to uphold the Constitution. One has to wonder if Goode, a self-proclaimed defender of American traditions, realizes the Constitution bars religious tests for officeholders. \nGoode's vitriol is not reserved for Ellison alone. He wants America to close its borders to new immigration. "(I) fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America," he wrote in a letter to a constituent. The disaster, Goode said, would be that other Muslims like Ellison will be elected. \nGoode's comments combine an alarming bigotry with a profound ignorance of Islam and America's Muslim community. \nBy some estimates, Muslim-Americans number 6 million or more. You may have Muslim classmates without realizing it, as the community is diverse as America itself. Sizable portions of the Muslim-American population are South Asian or Arab, and African-Americans like Ellison constitute at least one-third of the total, along with whites, Latinos and others. The vast majority of these Muslims were hardworking, loyal citizens far before the recent controversies that have questioned their place in America. Ellison, who converted to Islam 25 years ago, traces his roots in America back to 1742.\nThe fact that America elected its first Muslim-American to Capitol Hill (as well as its first two Buddhist congressmen) is cause for celebration, not antagonism. Goode's brand of identity politics blinds him from seeing that greater diversity can enrich America, that Ellison is just as dedicated as other legislators to faithfully upholding the Constitution. Furthermore, the presence of a vibrant Muslim minority is arguably the best reason to be optimistic about the potential for mutual understanding and peace in the future. \nIt's easy to fear and hate the unknown. From the average Americans who don't know that "Allah" is simply Arabic for "God", to the upper-level government officials the New York Times found couldn't name differences between Sunnis and Shias, it's clear that Americans have a lot to learn about Islam. Even worse, most of what we do hear comes from security "experts" rather than Muslims themselves. Against this backdrop, it's not surprising that Islamophobia -- prejudice against Muslims -- is so widespread.\nMuch of the burden to educate falls on Muslim-Americans. I won't try to convince you that Islam is a religion of peace in a single column, but I do urge you to attend this March's Islam Awareness Month events, held by the IU Muslim Student Union. Better yet, find your Muslim neighbors and get to know them -- the good news coming from the Goode-Ellison controversy is that Ellison has offered to meet Goode.