I do. I watch it and enjoy it. Apparently I am too dense to realize it is brainwashing my feeble mind about Muslims in Deerborn, Michigan. Apparently I am too dense to realize that these folks are really terrorists, deep down, and not regular working class people living their lives as the rest of us do in flyover country. The show follows several Muslim American families as they go about their everyday lives. They go to work - we watch a high school football coach, a federal agent, a social event venue owner, a medical records administrator, a political staffer, stay at home moms, and working moms. Racy stuff so far, right? There is also a newly married man who converted to Islam from Catholicism. The show goes into his mother's hesitance to embrace his decision. It also shows how a non-Muslim converts into the religion.
The show explains what Muslims believe and don't believe and why. They also correct misconceptions about what is and isn't in the Koran. Last week's show spoke to their beliefs about dogs as pets, for example.
A couple of "major" sponsors of the show have pulled their support due to outside pressures. First the big splash was made by Lowes, the do it yourself home improvement giant. Now it is Kayak, the travel website online. A group known as The Florida Family Association is behind the effort to yank support from the show.
The Florida Family Association, which says it has received about 750,000 emails from people concerning the show, has launched an online campaign to get companies to pull advertising from “All-American Muslim”. According to the association, about 75 companies that were original sponsors of the program have decided to pull their ads.
Let me be clear - I am in full support of complaining to advertisers when programming is inappropriate for their purchasers. Or if advertisers are supporting online blogs with ads when the blogs promote hate filled pieces such as was the case recently over attacks on the child of Sarah Palin. But, to accuse a show of promoting propaganda for a religion, may be a different exercise.
It seems to me that if you are going to criticize a television show and accuse the people doing it as propagandists, then maybe you should have at least watched an episode of that show. But, maybe that's just me. Or common sense. Instead the author of this piece is forthright about having never watched the show and bold enough to proclaim that the show is propaganda, he just "knows" it is. Maybe he is clairvoyant. So, he applauds these retailers for accusations without his personal verification.
Or, just maybe he is doing exactly what he accuses others of doing - spouting convenient lines without substantive thought.
The piece is HERE
No, I have never watched “All-American Muslim”, but I don’t need to watch it it know that the show is created around the notion that Americans are just bigots who need to be taught that American Muslims are regular folks trying to go about their business in a country that irrationally distrust them. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Actually the show is created in hopes of educational value - in answering the call for moderate Muslims speaking about their religion and life in America instead of just the extremists hogging the headlines. And, it does just that.
So, why do we think moderate Muslims will come forward and allow non-Muslims into their lives if alarmists and bigots stomp out such participation? This is a learning opportunity. We should embrace it and learn about the culture, the beliefs, the people who make up the Muslim communities around our country.
Ignorance is not something of which to be proud. And, bigotry is not acceptable. The show is on Sunday nights and is re-run over several time slots. I encourage you to check it out for yourself.
2 comments:
Tolerance is the American way; but taking over a country and forcing their religion on us - nah, I'm not for that.
I have no problem if they want to live here and practice their religion, but until you can show me that white old grandmothers from Sweden flew the planes into the Twin Towers - Muslims follow a religion that follow a leader who was a child molester and murderer.
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