A mass e-mail, whose greeting read "nix on new stamp," has recently been circulated on the internet.The content of this emotionally charged message concerns President Obama's efforts to commemorate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan by issuing a new 42-cent First Class stamp in the holiday's honor.
The writer of this e-mail urged the public to "adamantly and vocally boycott" this stamp at local post offices. The writer asked the public to recall a number of Muslim attacks on American Embassies and other buildings, on flights, and on U.S. Military forces and states that to purchase this stamp would be "a slap in the face to all those Americans who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors." The e-mail ends by declaring that Muslims do not believe in Christ and yet they still get their own Christmas stamp.
There are several points in this message that necessitate a closer analysis. Indeed, it is in passively permitting one's emotions to be stirred by such hasty declarations that undue hatred and violence are allowed to spread.
First of all, concerning the Muslim attacks against the United States: the perpetrators were terrorists; before they were Muslims, they were terrorists. In other words, these groups attacked the United States because they were terrorists, not because they were Muslims.
Secondly, concerning Muslims not believing in Christ, this declaration could not be farther from the truth. As a point of fact, Islam's Holy book, the Q'uran, discusses Christ and names him as a messenger of Allah who died and was "raised up to life again" (Q'uran, Surah 19:35). It is simply a false statement to say that Muslims do not believe in Christ.
The final issue in this charged e-mail concerns the identification of Ramadan with Christmas. Ramadan is celebrated on the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and remembers the occasion on which Allah revealed the Q'uran to his Prophet, Muhammad. Muslims do not have their own holiday for Christmas; rather, they join Christians around the world in celebrating the birth of the Prophet, Jesus, or as the Muslims call him, Isa.
This whole episode teaches an important lesson. Individuals mustn't be hasty in their judgments, and they mustn't act purely on their emotions. Rather, they must take time to consider whether what they are being told is valid or not. This is called acting rationally, being guided by reason.
If individuals can learn to act rationally, if they are able to conduct themselves without allowing their minds to be commandeered by their emotions, then they may not be the victims of such mass e-mails as the one circulated recently. This is the first step in promoting healthy inter-religious dialogue, the first step in global healing.
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