Light Up The Dark

The word Islamophobia is all over the news. I'm not sure its an accurate description. I think that to be scared of something, you have to know what it is and while what I see on the news is scary, it's not Islam. I have to laugh a little when I see a reporter say, "Here to tell us what muslims think, please welcome John Smith, head of the committee on what muslims think." Why not just ask a muslim? We're your neighbors, friends, teachers, social workers. We are part of your community. The phenomenon that is going on in the US these days, I think can be more accurately coined xenophobia then islamophobia—a fear of aliens. A fear of otherness. So what does this alienation have to with health? Health is complete social, physical, mental, and spiritual well being and alienating a group from the community has tremendous effects on their mental health, and social health. Alienating a group has been shown to be linked to violence and resulting degradation in physical health. It also has deleterious effects for the rest of the community. Stress, hate, feeling threatened adversely affect all components of health for the community at large. Perhaps the best way to combat this alienation and related adverse health outcomes is to show that you are of the community and for the community. This video peaks in on real muslims in the community. We worked with Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, a Muslim organization that is community-based Islamic effort that creates a space for the unencumbered worship of God and is dedicated implementing programs of service that will benefit the people of the local community.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• islam; islamophobia
• hate
• muslim
• terrorist
• oakland
• community service
• quran
• muhammad
• imam zaid shakir
• sister alice
• orange county

[fearlessbreeze1]

amazing video...btw what is the name of the background sound track?