Worship
Sunday, October 18, 2015 - 10:45am
Address:
Mackey Hall, Westminster Church House
353 E Pine St
Wooster, OH 44691
Presented By: Mark Denbeaux
Last week, on October 9th and 10th, anti-Muslim rallies were planned for at least 20 sites across the US. In an amazing effort to stand up for the values to which we as a nation aspire, these planned rallies inspired acts of love and kindness instead! Join us on Sunday morning for worship at 10:45with Mark Denbeaux as our guest speaker, as we put our faith into action in proclaiming that all people are created in the Image of God and add your voice to those speaking out against Islamophobia. A. Rashied Omar writes the following about Islamophobia in Political Theology Today:
"The term Islamophobia was coined in the mid-1990's to express the range and depth of antipathy towards Islam and Muslims found particularly in Western Europe and the United States of America since the end of the Cold War, and more especially after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The term became popularized after the Runnymede Trust, an independent research and social policy agency in Britain established a Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia in 1996. The Commission's report, Islamophobia: A Challenge for us All, was published in November 1997 and defined Islamophobia as 'the dread, hatred and hostility towards Islam and Muslims perpetrated by a series of closed views that imply and attribute negative and derogatory stereotypes and beliefs to Muslims.'
The report furthermore noted that Islamophobia results in exclusion, discrimination, misrepresentation and stereotyping. Islamophobia, the report went on to note: created the perception that the religion of Islam has no common values with the West, is inferior to the West (or to Judaism and Christianity), and that it really is a violent political ideology rather than a source of faith and spirituality, unlike the other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity.
The Runnymede report was followed by a wider European investigation instituted by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) following the attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. The EMCU report which came out in 2002 made a similar finding that 'Islamic communities and other vulnerable groups become targets of increasing hostility since September 11.'"
Professor Mark Denbeaux, one of Seton Hall's most senior faculty members, will be our Guest Speaker during worship as he talks about the intersectionality between #BlackLivesmatter and Islamaphobia. Mark is the Director of the Seton Hall Law School Center for Policy and Research, which is best known for its dissemination of the internationally recognized series of reports on the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp. Professor Denbeaux's interest in the conditions of detainment arose from his representation of two detainees there. Following his visits to GTMO, and his participation in amicus briefs arising from the rules governing the hearings for "enemy combatants," Professor Denbeaux realized the need for an analysis of the government's assumptions and the principles governing the detention process. The Guantánamo report series is primarily produced by Seton Hall Law students of all levels. Several graduates have remained research fellows, as well.
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