Christianity And Islam: Cooperation Or Conflict?

Religious and Ethnic Diversity
LeClare Nance
ETH-125

The Religious Group
Well honestly there are differences but there are also similarities. Islam has one god just like the Christian religion. The Islamic God, Allah, is believed to be the Creator of all creatures and mankind, similar to the beliefs that Christianity has about God. However, unlike Christianity there is only Allah, there is no Jesus per say. “And Allah makes none to share in His decisions and His rule.” (Holy Quran 18:26). Also unlike the Christian God, it is believed that Allah does not sleep or get tired but like the Christian god he has no weakness nor weariness. In the Bible it says that God rested after the final day of creating the Heaven’s and the Earth, meaning he can get weary. Although there are differences in these two religions it is believed that they both worship the same God. (The Islamic Bulletin, n.d.)
There is actually a lot of hostility between the Islamic religion and the Christian religion.
In an article titled “Christianity and Islam: Cooperation or Conflict?” it actually talks a lot about the hostility towards non-Muslims. In Pakistan, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian neighborhood, burning down 180 homes and damaging two churches. Also, in Egypt, Christian girls are often kidnapped and forced to marry Muslim men. It says, in Nigeria, Christians are even burned alive in their own churches. All these attacks are a daily occurrence in the Muslim world. In the western world, however, Muslims and Christians get along. The way the get along is the fact that they look at their similarities and not their differences. (The Catholic World Report,
2013)
The Islam religion actually began in the United States when it was once called the New World. The Moriscoes brought it when they accompanied the Spanish invaders. Following them, it came when Muslim slaves were imported to work on plantation in the South. The Islamic religion was supposable forced from them but the Islamic beliefs remained strong with many of them. In the early part of the century Muslim immigrants, most of which were from Palestine and Pakistan, arrived on American soil. These found work in the factories of Detroit, mostly in the automobile industry, and the peasants from Panjab set up housing in places like Sacramento. In the 50’s Muslim professionals settled in America after finishing their studies when their homelands became in capable of living. Today, the number of Muslims in the United States are estimated at 5 to 8 million residents. It is the fastest growing faith in the country. (A Brief History of Islam in the United States, n.d.)
Most of the discrimination of the Religion began after 9/11 in workplaces and schools. Some say that Muslim Americans aren’t actually citizens because of their religious practices. Since 9/11, many Muslim Americans have been fired from their jobs or asked to leave just because of their faith. Through the years there have been numerous vandalism, shootings, fire bombings, and several other types of attacks directed at Muslim homes, Muslim businesses, and Muslim individuals. One individual by the name of Dr. Al Alwani, used to travel from mosque to mosque, telling others about how great and wonderful America was. American’s thanked him by raiding his house and destroying his possessions. Often Muslims that wear their traditional garbs get stares. Many times Muslims are killed on site from ordinary American citizens seeking revenge from the 9/11 attacks. These discriminating acts have caused fear to grow within the Muslim community. (FictionPress: Discrimination Against Islam, n.d.)
Mainly the source of the discrimination is from the 9/11 attacks by Muslim terrorists. Now, Muslim American’s who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks are paying the price because American’s can’t get over what happened.
Honestly, it does help me understand it better. I always thought it was a false god that they worshiped but in reality it is the same God as Christians worship. Personally, me being Christian, I do not believe that there is anything wrong with their practices or their way at all. In my opinion, God does not care how you worship him or how you come to know him. What he does care about is that you know who he is and that you follow him; and honestly, Islam makes a little more sense to me than Christianity does.
The Racial/Ethnic Group
According to this article titled “African American Ethnicity” by Timothy Baumann, the African American culture began in West Africa and quickly developed in the New World. The first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 to help with the production of crops such as tobacco. African slaves built the foundation of the new nation. Slavery is what brought the first African Americans to the New World.
In history, discrimination against African Americans has been a major part in American history, even still today there is still discrimination for African Americans. Most of the discrimination has to do with their racial background and skin color. You can see this in how people treat individuals of their color, such as in the workplace. For example, the restaurant where my husband works there is a regular customer who has a very strong dislike for Black Americans. This individual once made a comment to his waitress saying, “I hate black people. If I was the General Manager here, I would fire you because you are black.” The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Nelle Harper Lee, is another good example of how African Americans were discriminated against back in the early 1940s and 1950s. Although the story is fictional, the portrayal of racial discrimination is very much real and alive even today.
There are many African American cultural contributions that can be found in America. During the Harlem Renaissance is when the first major public recognition of African American Culture occurred, from African American music to their literature and even their art was widely noticed. In the time of the Harlem Renaissance, it was also the time of a higher political involvement for African Americans. This was the time that the United Negro Improvement Association and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People came to be.
Conclusion
In some ways these two groups are similar because they both were discriminated by what they looked like. African Americans are dark skinned; back then they weren’t considered human, they were considered lower than dogs. In a way, the same can go for Islam. The people who practiced Islam were discriminated against because of the garbs they wore. Another thing to add on it is that Islam was a high religious practice within the African American culture. The idea behind the discrimination or the reason for discriminating these groups is different, since one group is just the religion and the other is an actual living and breathing being.

References
Kilpatrick, W. (2013). The catholic world report. Retrieved from http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/2200/christianity_and_islam_cooperation_or_conflict.aspx#.UiKZwNKfjz-

The islamic bulletin. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://http://islamicbulletin.org/newsletters/issue_24/beliefs.aspx#basic

Fictionpress. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2303363/1/Discrimination-Against-Islam

A brief history of islam in the united states. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.colostate.edu/orgs/MSA/find_more/iia.html

Bauman, T. (2004). African american ethnicity. Retrieved from http://gbl.indiana.edu/baumann/Baumann%202004%20-%20African%20American%20Ethnicity.pdf

African American culture. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.med.umich.edu/diversity/pdffiles/2%20February/February%20African%20American%20culture.doc