Hello World: A belated introduction

Since both people who are likely to be reading right now (Hi Mom...Mom? Are you there, Mom?) already know me quite well, this certainly isn't about introducing me. It's about introducing the blog, and clarifying, for current and future readers as well as for myself, what I am trying to do here.

First, please excuse the dust. No, not the real dust, the metaphorical "this is really still under construction and is probably going to be a bit messy" dust. I love me some good, professionally written, well-researched blogs. Someday I hope this will be one of them. But since my writing schedule has to be adapted to the needs of a very small, very important person, I'm doing pretty well if I write anything at all. I wanted this blog to be perfect right out of the gate, but another important person pointed out to me that if I keep aiming for perfection, my little corner of the internet is going to keep on gathering dust, so I decided I'd better just start posting.

Now, about the title... I chose the mama bear reference for blatantly political reasons. Sorry, Sarah Palin--not every mama grizzly bear out there votes for your candidates. Some of us lean the opposite direction, and we care about our children, their futures, and their security just as much. I want to talk to the world about the issues that matter to me, as a mama bear on the other side of the political spectrum.

I could have maybe called it "Left-leaning Muslim Lady" or "This Is My Country, You Dimwit!" or "I'll go back where my ancestors came from if you'll do the same", but none of those had the same ring. So you're stuck with Progressive Mama Bear.

Really, though, my being Muslim is a big part of why this blog matters to me. I occasionally see Muslims appearing on network television, usually as guest commentators or interviewees on a news program. And don't get me wrong, they do a fine job.

However, I rarely see Muslims who look like me, and I think that matters. Most of those I see on the television have more Y chromosomes than I do (see, I know something about genetics AND basic math. 1>0), and the few women who make it onto the screen almost never wear hijab. Which makes their experiences, as men or as women who are less easily identified as Muslim, different from mine.

Those experiences aren't all negative, but some of them are difficult and the difficult ones mostly seem to happen because anyone can tell at a glance that I am Muslim. Nor are my experiences aren't the only kind out there, or the only valid kind. Nor do I claim that my experiences represent those of every hijab-wearing Muslimah in the United States. But they're part of the picture, so instead of sitting around getting frustrated because nobody who looks like me is out there speaking on my behalf, I figured I ought to do some speaking of my own.

So why am I writing this? This sentence, this post, this blog? Because I want to tell my story, as an American Muslim woman. Because if I don't tell my story, someone else will tell it for me, will seek to define who I am, and if I let them I run the risk of becoming that definition. So I'm here to speak my own truth. I invite you to speak yours in the comments.

Muslims in America--What Happened to Civility?

On this ninth anniversary of 9/11, let me extend my sincere condolences to all those who lost friends or family members on that terrible day. I honor your grief and continue to condemn the senseless violence which took your loved ones from you.

In light of recent controversies, and indeed events now ongoing elsewhere in the country, I'd like to share a few thoughts. It is my hope to participate civilly in a conversation that has at times become uncivil, but which I believe it is vitally important that we Americans continue to have.

I was glad to hear that the organizers of International Burn a Koran Day changed their minds and chose not to burn scriptures. It's not that I was horrified that someone might defile my holy book; they weren't about to hurt the Quran, or Islam, or Muslims. No matter who burns a few books, the Quran will still be out there in the world, on people's bookshelves and in people's hearts. Muslims will still be out there in the world. Islam will still be the beautiful and peaceable faith my family and I practice. The organizers of International Burn a Koran Day might have been hurting themselves, but they certainly weren't about to hurt Islam.

That said, in light of the threatened reprisals against Americans overseas, I am relieved that the hateful and divisive event has been called off.

I am, however, deeply disturbed about the atmosphere of hatred in which this controversy has occurred; and I could not disagree more with those who have equated plans to burn Qurans with plans to build an Islamic community center in the neighborhood of Ground Zero. Whether those drawing that false parallel are former governors of Alaska, current leaders in Congress, or imams in Florida, they are mistaken.

There is simply no equivalence. Proceeding with Park 51 at its planned location is controversial, to be sure. Reasonable people have different opinions about it, and while I think the case for proceeding with the project is stronger than the case against, there is room for reasonable people to come together and discuss the matter in a reasonable way. Burning a holy book, by contrast, is an act of bald-faced hate. There is no room for discussion here, no room for reasonable people to disagree. It is an act which intentionally throws civility and the spirit of American pluralism out the window.

In the past nine years, Americans have been asked again and again whether Muslims are truly welcome to worship freely and live as neighbors and citizens in this country. In recent years, particularly since the election of a president many still erroneously believe to be Muslim, too many have answered in the negative. If the United States is to continue to be a place where people from all over the world come to escape religious persecution, if it is to continue to be a place where we may not agree with our neighbors but will always speak up when their freedoms are threatened, if indeed the democracy which was assaulted nine years ago today is to continue to thrive, then my fellow citizens will have to reconsider that answer.