As the United States religious diversity becomes more prominent, religious tension increases among Americans. Consider the following examples:
A private Ohio Christian university recently instituted a policy to hire only Christian and Jewish employees in what it said was an effort to remain in alignment with the institution’s mission & vision. The Board of Directors decided to void the policy after campus-wide outbursts over their decision.
White House efforts to allow faith-based institutions to receive federal funding to address educational and social needs continue to create divisiveness in our already politically divided country.
Many in the Muslim world consider the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as religious conflict—many Americans believe that occupation of these countries is the only way to get them to accept their Christian version of democracy.
A group of Christians heckles a Buddhist Monk who opens a meeting of the American Congress with a spiritual chant. They believe that it is blasphemy to allow a non-Christian to open a government meeting.
Diversity has played a controversial role in this country since its inception—even in writing the Constitution. One thing is perfectly clear. We realized early on that the separation of religion and government was crucial to create a more perfect union. Careful consideration of history tells us that this was a smart thing to do. Historically, religious leaders have colluded with governments in some of the worse incidents of human rights violations and genocide across the globe.
Recently, both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush political machines have dangerously blurred the precious division between church and state in American politics. A combination of the tragic of 9/11 and subsequent invasion of Iraq solidified the undermining of resistance to religion-state separation. Consider that the Council on American-Islamic Relations recently characterized Fox Television’s thriller series 24 as promoting negative stereotypes and racial hatred for it portrayal of Muslims in an upcoming segment. Why not engage in Muslim-bashing for profit given the post 9/11 climate?
The results of a recent Cornell University national study of American terrorism fears show that many Americans consider that being Muslim is enough reason to curtail one’s civil liberties. According to the study published in December 2004, almost half of respondents polled endorsed the idea of U.S. government curtailing Muslim American civil liberties. In fact, a little more than one in five respondents said that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government, and that mosques should be closely monitored by U.S. law enforcement agencies.
Twenty-two percent said Muslim or Middle Eastern heritage should be used in profiling citizens as potential threats. The good news is that 48 percent of respondents nationally said they do not believe that civil liberties for Muslim Americans should be restricted.
The split in views is consistent with the political atmosphere in this country since the Gore-Bush presidential campaign. The difference is that the current leadership’s policies appear to be exploiting religion in ways that further divide the country rather than heal the religious divisions.
Our country’s global reputation is severely harmed as a result. You may want to blame it on White, conservative Americans. Consider that they could not pull it off without those African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and recent immigrants who have jumped on the Muslim hatred bandwagon with Christian Whites.
The common ground is a belief that those who do not fit within the mainstream of Christian, “God-loving” America can be treated as problems for society. The blurred reality of church-state separation threatens our Constitution. It is also a travesty for a presumably civilized society. Remember the enslavement of Black Americans and the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. Boy, we have a short memory.
The compassionate leaders know that we will live to regret the mistreatment and prejudice towards Muslims in America. Their unwillingness to upset the status quo prevents them from compassionate governance. As Americans, we do little to hold them accountable even at the voting machine. I don’t know if the Constitutional challenges to our Holy War against Muslims will do any good, especially given the present American Supreme Court’s makeup.
I do know that we will look back with guilt and shame at how insensitive and ethnocentric we have behaved out of fear and competing for global power. It takes cultural competence to lead any organization towards a more inclusive approach to managing differences.
DTUI.com believes that compassionate leadership in the modern world includes cultural competence. Perhaps each and everyone of our leaders in government should take a one week intensive diversity leadership course. That’s my expert opinion.
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Dr. Billy Vaughn received his doctorate degree in cultural-cognitive psychology from the University of California, San Diego. He specializes in creating culturally competent leaders and organizations as chief diversity officer for Diversity Training University International. Dr. Vaughn is also editor-in-chief of Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management magazine, a knowledge sharing resource for diversity leaders.
