The FBI and its promotion of religious stereotyping

In a country with so many diverse cultures and individuals, the U.S. government has an obligation to develop knowledge and respect for each of them.

That’s why using the cover of community outreach for the purpose of spying and intelligence is a heinous breakdown of the trust required of a government ­— or at least the American government.

The FBI was accused last week of holding community outreach programs for the benefit of spying on Muslim citizens.

This is not the first example of such behavior, as examples of spying were brought forward in 2007 and 2008 in association with Ramadan celebrations.

To use such a guise to convince U.S. citizens they are attending an outreach program, yet instead spy on them, sets up a foundation to further encourage paranoia and distrust of the government.

If the United States wants to know more about Muslim practices, there are far simpler ways to gain information than spying: Why not simply ask?

As a general rule, people enjoy sharing their religion, and the opportunity to create a positive connection to a specific group or organization by creating a bond of friendship can create the pathways the United States is looking for, rather than creating social divisions and skepticism that will create nothing but distrust and hate.

With information surfacing about this particular incident, a new question arises: If the FBI is spying on Muslims, what other groups are they spying on, and what other crazy sting operations are they using to gather information?

It is utterly unacceptable for the U.S. government to maintain these methods of stereotyping to spy on citizens of the Muslim faith.

Had the FBI used the spying attempt to better understand the culture of Islam and to develop a relationship with the practitioners who live within our borders, its action would have been justifiable. But that was not the case.

Instead, the FBI specifically targeted a group of people to keep tabs on specific citizens, with no other reason than their Muslim faith. This is an abominable crime.

Perpetuation of such religious stereotyping only furthers the international community’s criticism of the American government. We are only proving right those who choose to hate the United States and those who believe America is a narrow-minded, Christian-dominant nation.

How can the country encourage anything that resembles tolerance or acceptance when they are practicing religious discrimination?


­— azoot@indiana.edu