Islamic Leaders in America

A helpful discussion on the role of Islam in America by Thomas F. Farr—posted on The Public Discourse —points out the ways in which the recent controversy about an Islamic Center near Ground Zero threatens to side-track the positive contributions that Muslims can make in America.

At the end of the essay, however, I found myself not so much disagreeing but rather wanting more.

Farr writes, “It would be a tragedy if Muslims became so absorbed in this fantasy that they render themselves incapable of performing a task that they are well suited to perform, one that is vital to America-fighting Islamist extremism at home and abroad.”

True enough. But I want to add that Muslims are also well suited to perform another task—to contribute to the renewal of American culture. American Muslims, like many American Christians, struggle to understand how to participate in a secular society that increasingly rejects the traditional moral wisdom. In this shared struggle, we need all the help we can get.

As a Christian, I worry that I’ve fallen into various ruts, perhaps complacently accepting aspects of contemporary American culture that I ought to resist. American Muslims are relatively new to the American scene, and this very likely leads to fresh thoughts about how religion should influence public life.