4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 24, 2006 OPINION GEOFF SILVERSTEIN NMI:STER MAYOR AN- )RF)\"., e ffilIrbpn &zilg DoNN M. FRESARD Editor in Chief EMILY BEAM CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK Editorial Page Editors ASHLEY DINGES Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STU DENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their author. It's not Islam, it's religion JESSE SINGAL STELM THE .IDE: t's illegal for Abdul Rahman to be Chris- tian in Afghanistan. The 41-year-old converted from Islam to Christian- ity 16 years ago and was arrested last month. He now could face death sentence. Ansarullah Mawlazeza- dah, the presiding judge in the case, told ABC News that "a medical team was checking the defendant, since the team suspects insanity caused Rahman to reject Islam." "We will ask him if he has changed his mind about being a Christian," Mawlazezadah also said. "If he has, we will forgive him, because Islam is a religion of tolerance." And if he doesn't? He dies. CNN.com reported that: "Rahman's case has illustrated a split in Afghanistan over interpretation of the constitution, which calls for religious free- dom while also stating that any Muslim who rejects Islam should be punished by death." This underlines a major problem with the way things are going in parts of the Muslim world; as the United States has struggled to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq, we have assumed that it's possible to rebuild those states in roughly our image (that is, with our liberal ideas about freedom of conscience) while endorsing fun- damentalist Islam. Remember the interim Iraqi constitution that was approved in October? Like its Afghan counterpart, it has a schizophrenic quality to it, ensuring both gen- der equality (among other equalities) and that Islam will be a source of legislation. How these two guar- antees are going to be reconciled remains to be seen, but, again, there is the pernicious assumption that equality can coexist with fundamentalist religion. Because this isn't about Islam as much as it's about religion. Fundamentalist religion and liberty can't coexist. Whenever a state draws its laws from a hard-line reading of its holy text (whether the Bible or Quran), liberty suffers. Plenty of people have been quick to decry the rise of political Islam in - among other places - Iran, the Palestinian territories and Iraq, and they are right to do so. But what's lost - what a country as religious as ours is far too self-con- scious to acknowledge - is that fundamentalism, not Islam, is the problem, and fundamentalism, not Islam, is the ultimate enemy of the free world. If America drew all its laws from Old Testa- ment Biblical doctrine, it would be as brutal a place as Afghanistan. All countries with legal systems we would find acceptable have managed to ignore most of their heritage's dogma, because that's what moderate religion is - not some abstract melding of ancient and modern principles, but pure and simple disregard of most of what a religion entails. Moder- ate Christians and Jews are moderate because they ignore most of the Bible; the same goes for moderate Muslims. Following the Quran or the Bible to the let- ter will always be deleterious to liberty and to accept- able standards of justice - if you doubt this, give Deuteronomy a close read. When fundamentalism and law become too intertwined, cases like Rahman's will always be the result. Unfortunately, some elements of cultural rela- tivism have muted the outrage that should accom- pany much of what goes on in the name of Islam. We hear time and again that countries have the right to make their own laws and to practice their own cul- tures, but I'm not sure this can be taken without some questioning. After all, it's incoherent to say both that Afghanistan has the right to make any laws it wishes and that Rahman has the right to be a Christian in Afghanistan. I'm much more sure about the second half of that sentence than the first. That's not to say, of course, that we have the right to invade any country we wish in the name of lib- erty or justice. But what it does mean is that it's time to question the cozy relativism we're accustomed to wrapping ourselves in; basic standards of human rights and decency deserve an exalted position, not to be brushed aside as relics of culture. The civilized world allows people freedom of conscience and reli- gion because its members understand certain things about what it means to be human, what it means to question and ponder and exist as a free agent - it's not a mere accident of culture, but rather a wonder- ful progression that has taken thousands of years to solidify. If you're the religious type, pray for Abdul Rahman, an innocent man trapped in an utterly backward place. Singal can be reached atjsingal@umich.edu. Putting the 'I' in iPods IMRAN SYED DEMAGOGUES DEBUNKED 'Wshould all wear nametags. That way we'd be able to say hi to each other as we walk by, and let's face it: You don't kill someone if you know their name. Alas, this only works in the world of "Seinfeld" - real life, just as much in need of amity and kindness, is not that simple. A couple of weeks ago, I had to bring some old textbooks to campus to finally sell back after months of procrastination. Because they wouldn't fit in my usual backpack, I carried an extra bag, which must have weighed in somewhere around 70 pounds. Being a commuter, I had to take the bus from an off-campus park- ing lot. In the bustle of finding a seat on the bus while balancing two heavy bags and a forbiddingly fluffy winter coat, I didn't notice that my extra bag became caught up in a seat. As I yanked it free, a seam split and everything from "The Economics of Public Issues" to "South- East Asia: A Political Profile" scattered everywhere. I half expected a rush of people to help me retrieve my belongings, but looking back on it now, I see this was an unfair expectation. It was 10:30 in the morning; these people had had a trying commute and were just beginning to momentarily relax when I decided to litter everything I owned at their feet. No, they should not have to set aside their newspapers for half a second and pick up the one book lying on their feet; it was my job to spend the next 10 minutes collecting books, pencils and loose papers from sticky corners, under- neath seats and between people's legs, all while stumbling and tumbling as the rick- ety bus barreled down State Street. I seriously believe that three years ago, this situation would have been different. Though they still would be able to avert their eyes and pretend to not see what was happening, the others on the bus could not have pretended to not hear my disas- ter and would have been compelled to pick up at least the one thing lying closest to them. Which brings me to the ultimate evil I encountered that day - iPods. Americans are known worldwide for being some of the most impersonal, uncongenial people anywhere. From our "plastic smiles" to our superficial small talk, we're all too happy to just give a feeble "What's up?" (not expecting an actual answer, of course) before moving on along our way. Where Europeans may hug and even kiss, a simple, meaningless hand wave is a viable enough greeting for the average American. While sad, this is fine - until we real- ize we are becoming more and more curt and cold as we go along. Just a couple of decades ago, we still valued the commu- nity atmosphere of town living, but now many people may go through a whole day without having an actual conversa- tion. Technology is flying ahead, and its advance gives us the opportunity to avoid many personal encounters, but the level of unfriendliness found in everyday encounters today is troubling. Being withdrawn to our own thoughts, reading or music during the little bits of downtime we get between the stressful endeavors of everyday life is understand- able, but it's becoming easier - and thus more common - today. Whereas in the past, two passengers may have actually talked to each other, today every pas- senger dons sleek white headphones and dreamily hums to himself. It seems 90 percent of the University owns an iPod, or at least some sort of MP3 player. No longer do people use the walk between classes to converse with friends or soak in the sounds of the world around them. Instead, they know- ingly choose to become oblivious to everything around them by immersing themselves completely in the high-deci- bel tunes escaping from their earbuds. Now I hear even class lectures are avail- able via podcast - so there's yet another social encounter we can avoid. Staying in one room all day, speaking on the cell phone, task managing on the PDA, text messaging on the Blackberry and doing class work on the iPod can con- stitute a whole day and no other people are required. Brilliant. As if cell phones were not impersonal enough, iPods now give people yet another way of ignoring everyone around them. America has always been about the individual. From self-starters to entre- preneurial visionaries, our society values individual ingenuity above all else. But in today's polarized world, withdrawing ourselves further from our community is not the answer. Perhaps it's time we came to~' accent the facrt that we do not need to * LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send all letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily. Controversial artwork celebrates freedoms TO THE DAILY: Thank you so much for publishing a photo of Natsuko Katayama's "Hermaphrodite" on your front page (Artwork spurs controversy at Flint, 03/22/05). Your action signified to me freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom to celebrate the androgy- nous elements that exist within each of us. It should remind us that there are fundamen- tally as many different kinds of sexuality as there are individuals. Theodore Grenier Staff MSA annoying, should leave students alone TO THE DAILY: I hate to break the hearts of all the stu- dent politicians who have spent the past week bothering people in the Diag and get- ting up before class to chalk sidewalks, but elections are now over. I'd like to breathe a collective sigh of relief for us normal people on campus who simply didn't care and hopefully send some kind of message to those people who have been flooding my inbox for the last two days. Aside from the fact that I got to feel extremely popular for the few seconds I spent waiting for my inbox to load before I noticed that 25 out of the 27 messages that I received overnight were from people arguing about platform inconsistencies and whining about rules violations, the nature of elections here at the University just isn't conducive to mak- ing me care about anything regarding stu- dent politics. I think a recent email from the Michi- gan Progressive Party sums up my indiffer- ence and frustration appropriately: "Does election spam drive you crazy? So far this election, Students 4 Michigan has sent over 500,000 unsolicited campaign emails. Did this attack on your inbox make you feel better about student government or encour- age you to vote? The Michigan Progres- sive Party realizes that no one likes being besieged by election spam." Now, I appre- ciate that the MPP realizes that people are sick of elections and sick of spam, but what I can't understand is why they would send me an unsolicited email accusing Students 4 Michigan of sending unsolicited emails. If they haven't figured it out yet, this is why nobody cares about elections. Please, go back to planning Ludacris concerts or dressing "business casual" - do whatever makes you feel important, just leave me alone. Franklin Shaddy LSA freshman Placing artwork on front page 'in questionable taste' TO THE DAILY: When I finally got my hands on a Daily Wednesday afternoon, I was very surprised to see a picture of a naked person on the front page. Never mind the fact that the per- son was a hermaphrodite; if I wanted to see nudity, I could just Google it. One would think that because the picture was so con- troversial that it had to be removed from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender offices, it might offend some people's sen- sibilities. So what reason, other than shock value, is there to running a picture - char- coal drawing or not - of a naked person on the front cover? The Daily could have put the picture on its website and directed individuals to go there if they were interested in seeing what had caused such an uproar in Flint. But to put it on the front page, where people have to see it, is in questionable taste. David Swedler Public Health VIEWPOINT Solidarity from unexpected sources BY CARMEL SALHI There is no place left on this University campus that is safe. Speaking out seems to create more of a gap of power between the University's admin- istration and the student body. Students of color, along with staff and faculty, have long been the casualties of discriminatory policies and - more informally but arguably more rampantly - the targets of racist and chauvinistic actions from individuals within University administration and institutions. Despite a lengthy history, there has been a disturbing increase both in the number and boldness of hate incidents in recent years. It is useful to point out a few episodes that high- light the trend. Take the case of Arab students. For all admissions to the University, the checkbox for white students reads as follows: "Caucasian/White (not of Hispanic origin, but having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East)." While the system of checkboxes is inherently over-simplistic, this categorization of Arab students leaves them powerless to even check the "Other" category, making invisible an entire community to counseling services and ethnicity-spe- cific scholarships and opportunities. At events advo- cating for Arab rights, and sometimes on the Daily's editorial page, students and faculty have been called "terrorists" all the way to "camel jockeys" In our current school year, there have been numer- ous amateur-style cartoons and articles published in the Daily essentializing all Arabs and Muslims, per- petuating the "camel jockey" and "terrorist" image. On April 8, in the Michigan Union Ballroom, there will be the third annual Arab culture show, which has received unprecedented support in the past not only from the Arab community, but also from other students of color. The continuing growth of commu- nication and informal networks made between dif- ferent groups in such trying times has been nothing short of inspirational. The Michigan Daily, in allowing for independent submissions, has encouraged discrimination of all people of color. While clearly the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is an issue that merits discussion, it is one matter to deal with the topic at hand and tile and even violent campus atmosphere. It has gone even further this year, unfortunate- ly, with the hate crime on two Asian students in September 2005. There were attempts to actually excuse the hate crimes and use it as an opportunity to glorify the University's "diversity" efforts. Dis- appointingly, President Coleman left the campus with unnerving remarks, stating that "every year we have thousands of new students who come to us who may not understand what we expect" and "it is possible that some people don't realize they are being offensive when they say something" The campus has become an environment where pouring beer on people because of their race has become excusable. But as has been the case when the Uni- versity fails, the students and concerned faculty have come together. For months after the incident took place, there were discussions being held, press releases issued from students and faculty and events to educate the community. In the face of aggression, there grew a self-contained movement of commu- nities to improve on a basic need: safety. The responsibility and ownership of such crimes takes on another dimension when there is active institutional involvement or complacency, as in the case of Michigamua. Michigamua is still a secretive organization on campus, and the most recent knowledge of the organization has shown that it is still practicing the same racist rituals using the same stolen artifacts that the founders had taken decades ago. In the absence of admin- istrative action, there has been a historic show of solidarity for years by student activists. Diversity is not about equal opportunity; it is about equality. Although there is no law against tokenization, it leaves more than just a suspicion that students are a disposable commodity. This does not leave students wavering, though, but rather with one of their greatest assets - clear paths of communication and cooperation. Students at the University have a situation that is possibly unlike any other in the country, where different communities on campus have such a commonality of struggles and achievements, especially because of their similar mistreatment. So while this is a par- ticularly difficult time, it is also a time of unprec- Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Andrew Bielak, Kevin Bunkley, Gabrielle DAngelo, Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg, Mark Kuehn, Frank Manley, Suhael Moin, Kirsty McNamara, Rajiv Prabhakar, Katherine Seid, Ben Taylor, Jessica Teng, Rachel Wagner. J