Mainstreaming Hate

Amanda Marcotte's Religious review laments that the filmmakers opted for a caricature view of Islam instead of teasing out the internal contradictions common to all religions. It would be better if liberals set an example here. We know how the other side reacts - using "mosques" as a stand-in for "sleeper cells" and trying to frighten real Murcans with tales of the Mooslims coming to take over the gummint and force burqas on our wife and kids. John McCain's boilerplate salute to the Feast of Eid is another example.

But if we don't preach tolerance and associate all Muslims with murderers, then we incite more stuff like this:

A 10-year-old girl sprayed in the face with a chemical Friday, Sept. 26, while at a local Islamic mosque was not the victim of a hate crime, police Chief Richard Biehl said.

The girl was watching children whose parents and relatives had gathered at the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, 26 Josie St., to celebrate Ramadan when she noticed two men standing outside a basement window about 9:40 p.m., according to police.

One of the men then sprayed something through the open window and into the girl's face from a white can with a red top, according to a police report. The girl said she immediately felt burning on her face and felt "sick to her stomach," the report stated.

Other children and a woman in the room felt affects from the chemical and the mosque was evacuated.

Right, it wasn't a hate crime at all.

There's a lot worse out there, like this needlessly provocative "Obsession" DVD showing up in people's newspapers. But someone has to set an example. I appreciate Bill Maher's work to demystify religion but lazy demonization is going to lead to the mainstreaming of hate. It's going to be bad enough in an Obama Administration to get through all the crap thrown at "the other."