Hello from Denver everyone – this is my first official post from the convention, although if you’ve been astute and checking out our very nice Tumblr page, you’ll have realized that its actually my third! One would think nothing would happen on a Sunday at the DNC – but then one would have missed the epic DNC “interfaith gathering” that took place this afternoon at the Colorado Convention Center. At this gathering, we had Catholic Priests, Jewish Rabbis, Pentecostal Ministers, Muslim Imams, Buddhist College Students, and Catholic Anti-Death Penalty Activists. Many of them spoke very well and inspiringly, and interestingly enough, they didn’t stick to the party line – Helen Prejean, an anti-death penalty activist, was to the left of Obama on the issue, while Bishop Charles E. Blake was to the right of him on abortion. One thing they could all agree on, however, was that the Democratic Party’s “Big Tent” was a good place for them to express their opinions and could offer a strong hope for future considerate policy. To read more about it, you can watch the whole video here, but I took a special interest in the speakers that would interest the Sepia readers.
There were three main parts of this interfaith gathering that had the most “South Asian relevance.” One was Kathryn Ida, the Buddhist college student who read a passage and that I briefly profiled here. Another was Ingrid Mattson, the president of the Islamic Society of North America, who I’ll get to in a moment. And last was a notable absence – the absence of any Hindu leaders at this interfaith gathering! Hindus make up a similar percentage of the American population to Muslims and Buddhists, and also identify overwhelmingly Democrat as a religious group. Alas, it was probably an oversight, but quite an unusual one for a Convention that has a sizable number of South Asian related events (see the next three days of posts). I’d like to add to the irony of the moment by wishing all the Vaishnavs out there a very happy Janmashtami =)
The Muslim-American community was recognized in full-force, with local imams assisting in opening and closing prayers, and Ingrid Mattson, the president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), as a keynote speaker. There had been some controversy over her organization , and I really don’t know enough about ISNA or the speaker to judge, but her speech was strong and anything but controversial. The theme of her speech was “Our Sacred Responsibility to Our World” and she covered a variety of subjects including:
The importance of learning more about and engaging people of different nations to better understand them (she gave the example of an instance in which Syrian women had the opportunity to travel and meet Christian and Jewish women, and the opportunities this gave for cultural understanding)
On the same theme, promoting a policy of allowing more foreign students to travel to the United States as the best way to spread the American message of freedom
She mentioned that despite the discrimination Muslims occasionally face in the U.S., “this is still the best place in the world to practice our faith”
She addressed the need to “confront evil…but do so with humility” and that it “saddens me tht this evil is done in the name of my religion”
The need to fight terrorism without causing indiscriminate civilian harm
Her speech was well-received by the entire crowd, and afterwards SM had the chance to ask her a few questions (answers might be paraphrased due to speed of interview):How would you describe the mood of Muslim-Americans during this election year?
I see a lot more optimism among Muslim-Americans this year, along with a feeling of a responsibility to be involved, because I think we realize that if you are not involved, you don’t have the right to complain about what’s going on. Does your appearance here mean you support the Democratic party this year?
Not necessarily, as the head of a 501c(3) I have a responsibility to stay politically neutral… and would gladly accept an invitation to speak at the RNC as well.
Can you describe your organization?
We represent 100,000 Muslim-Americans, who are diverse from an ethnic and sectarian standpoint. We aim to have a big tent and model intrareligious pluralism…if you can’t be tolerant within your own community, its unlikely that you are going to be tolerant to those of other religions….We obviously do not have authority over mosques and other groups, but we set guidelines we suggest they meet such as:
Developing interfaith outreach programs
Absolutely not excluding women from the mosque’s decision-making process
Prioritizing budgets to highlight the important priorities (does the mosque need a 50 ft. minaret in the United States?)
How do you address the controversy raised by your speaking role in light of the recent Justice Department issues surrounding ISNA?
The ACLU has filed a motion on behalf of ISNA with the hope that we will be relieved of this problem and the entirely unwarranted accusations.
As the female leader of a major Muslim organization, how do you feel about the role of women in American Muslim communities?
I hope Muslim women understand that to commit to tradition does not mean to submit but to partner with other members of the faith to interpret the tradition independently and sift the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes the option is presented as either submission to or walking away from the community, but the role of women in Muslim communities should not be to be spoken about, but should be for women to speak for themselves. There are things such as misogyny and intolerance that have no place in the faith, and many women could walk away with so much good and valuable from the religious tradition.
I doubt that it is the DNC’s fault, there are very few young politically active Indian-Americans who identify as Hindu from a faith perspective. It’s not a PC thing to be. You’ll see what I mean after a few months on campus. I am agnostic (sometimes pantheist) but identify as Hindu because I enjoy the consternation it causes with some types
On liberal grounds, this involvement of politicians and religious figures is stomach-churning–it’s just as bad as if they were cultivating favor among lovers of the color red over green. . . . John Stuart Mill, we hardly knew ye. . . .
Of course, the Republicans are just as bad on this front!
4 · rob said
i agree. the repub platform and issues are aligned with an extreme interpretation of christianity as applying to all aspects of civil life, exactly analogous to how the dem platform is organized around extreme interpretations of islam,
ROB:
I’m sorry?? The “analogous to how the dem platform is organized around extreme interpretations of Islam”? Are you serious?! As a Muslim American Democrat, I can say with pure conviction that this statement clearly misses the definition of “extreme interpretations” of Islam. And to even intimate that Islam has been used in the Democratic party the way Christianity has been used in the Republican party is completely laughable.
You have no idea how extreme these interpretations can get, and I think this statement reflects a confusion between acceptance/tolerance and alignment.
Thanks for this article, Ravi, I enjoyed it. Have fun!!
speaking from personal experience, ISNA is as mainstream and ‘moderate’ a muslim organization as you can get. All the allegations I have seen in the past have been ‘guilt by association’…par for the course for the current administration. As large as ISNA is, there are bound to be one or two people who have some association with the org who may also engage in questionable activities or speeches on their own time…as long as they are not in leadership or setting the orgs policy or platform, i dont think you can fault the org.
First LOL at feeding the trolls well it should be interesting, i mean 2 nights of the Clinton klan and folk from MICH and FLA
am the only one who sees something ironic about a white Canadian woman who converted speaking for American Muslims? It doesn’t seem like she can possibly relate to the experiences of the mostly brown American Muslim community.
8 · artiste said
Mattson came to the forefront by involving women, which wasn’t happening organically among the devout. I am not Muslim but I have to believe that a white practicing Muslim like Mattson would be better received by 1st gen Muslim immigrants than Asra Nomani or Irshad Manji.
5 · Faiqa said
i recommend that you familiarize yourself with the concept of sarcasm. might help you out…
and rob didn’t make the statement, i did.
Robert Spencer can enlighten you on how “moderate” Mattson is:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022342.php
Here is just one of 17 issues that Spencer has with Mattson:
4 · one of these things is exactly like the other said
what in the republian platform represents an extreme interprettion of christianity?
Ravi Loved your post here. You asked great questions, and as usual, Ingrid responded articulately and thoughtfully.
About controversies surrounding the organization, there are only a few Islam-centered organizations in the US that are not under attack. There is pretty much a low-grade level of harassment constantly directed at Islamic organizations, Muslim professors, teachers, etc. It’s a way for the people in power to deal with their Islamophobia while arguing that America is the land of the free and home of the brave and still feel comfortable chastising China for not allowing religious freedoms.
It’s like when Condi R. (echoed by McCain) recently said in response to Russia freeing South Ossetia after Georgians invaded it; something along the lines of: Nations do not use military force to invade sovereign nations in the 21st century. I believe she delivered that line with a straight face.
ok so what business does a Canadian have @ the Democratic convention speaking for Americans?
I was confused when I read her speech at the convention as a product of it I have a disjointed thought
Ingrid Mattson Hussein Ibish Wayne Brady Bryant Gumbel Khomeini Malcolm X
little technical detail: not only Vaishnavites celebrate Krishna Janmashtami!!
one of these things is exactly like the other i recommend that you familiarize yourself with the concept of sarcasm. might help you out…
oh man. you were being sarcastic. i feel like kind of a moron. can i plead temporary “dufferdom” on the basis of the fact that i hadn’t had my wheaties, yet? oh, and poor rob… sorry.
1 · louiecypher said
I’m still curious as to exactly what this means.
11 · Mr Magoo said
I don’t think Mattson can enlighten anyone regarding anything.
Faiqa: no problem, of course. 🙂
Lol Ravi get some knowledge man. Janmashtami isn’t a “Vaishnav” holiday. I don’t even know what the difference between Shaivite and Vaishnav IS! As if North Indians have less respect for Shiva than Vishnu? God you guys really pose as intellectuals on this site.
21 · NYC Chatwala said
where did he say anything about north indians? and if some indians worship shiva, and others worship vishnu, it doesnt exactly mean that indians on average have less respect for one or the other.
thankfully, you don’t feign any intellect in any of your comments. kudos.
In a post that is bemoaning the lack of Hindu religious presence, in an official capacity, Ravi seems to be pointing out that Hindus are divided over the Hindu Trinity (Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva). Janmashtami is in fact celebrated by a very large percentage of Hindus that also celebrate Shivaratri. Pointedly referring to Vaishnavs seems to imply that they are not a subset of Hindus.
23 · amaun said
yes, surely that is what ravi was saying – especially when he points it out in the context of the irony of no hindu representation.
next time when he says shivaratri is celebrated by saivites, he will be saying siva followers are not hindus. and of course, let’s not even start talking about ganesh chaturthi…
i am glad the umbrage faction is out in full force. garv se kaho hum buddhu hain!
Why not simply say “I’d like to add to the irony of the moment by wishing all the Hindus out there a very happy Janmashtami.”
Whoa! I totally missed your Janmastami shout-out because, well, I was celebrating Janmastami. But thanks!!!!
I don’t know about the numbers but I am an extremely religious Hindu (and Vaishnav) who wears my faith on my sleeve much of the time. And I am also very proud to be a liberal and a Democrat.
The rest of the comments beating Ravi up for giving a shout-out is a little annoying and exactly why I stopped hanging out here.
Thanks Ravi, good post. . .
Of course, I’m sure you didn’t miss the irony of your statement given that most figures find the plurality of American Muslims to be black.
8 · artiste said
I don’t think that the fact that the American Muslim community is largely brown has a great impact on her ability to represent it and relate to it’s problems. Most of the issues affecting the Muslim community today – both external, as in prejudice, hate crimes, etc and internal, as in discrimination against women, lack of organization and unity, and so on) cannot be reduced to very easily to racial ones. The main obstacle that she might encounter is her nationality – as a Canadian, she might not be fully familiar with the unique environment that American Muslims live in. Unless, of course, you know, she emigrated to the US a long time ago.