Mariam Durrani

Ignorance is in season

Ignorance is an ugly disease in society. It breeds hate and idiocy.

Unfortunately, it has found a breeding ground at UNC. School officials, in an attempt to actually stimulate thinking and educate students (*gasp,* how dare they?), decided to incorporate a book explaining the Quran during freshmen orientation week. This is not required reading. Students are able to opt out of this activity.

Important to note, this book explains some revelations from the Quran but is not the Quran itself. Some far-right zealots have decided that UNC is ramming the religion of America's enemies down the students' throats and this is misuse of public funding to support a religion. What?

UNC recognized the ignorance many Americans have regarding Islam. It is a religion of peace that has been exploited by fanatics into a religion of violence and terrorism. When a student enters a university, it is understood that we will be mentally stimulated inside and outside the classroom. If this is a shock to anyone, please re-evaluate your college career. If not, continue reading.

The opposition to the book asks, "Why not require Muslim students to read the Bible?" Newsflash: I have been required to read the Bible many times in an educational context. Does that mean Christianity was rammed down my throat? No. It doesn't.

How else am I going to understand how close Christianity and Islam really are? If I am not introduced to the Torah, how can I appreciate the Jewish faith?

"UNC is giving students the opportunity to escape ignorance with education. -Mariam Durrani

True religion is found in the rawest and most virgin forms. For Islam, this form is the Quran. The true Islam was not present at Sept. 11. If it had been, then I can understand why we wouldn't want to learn about it. It would be equally ignorant to disdain the Bible judging solely by the events of Waco.

The UNC reading assignment is not pro-Islam ÷ it is pro-America. Muslims are Americans, too. Our beliefs are not the enemy. UNC is giving students the opportunity to escape ignorance with education. Education is the key to truly understanding a faith and people that have been unjustly insulted, and to ridding ourselves of ignorance. We must banish this ugly beast from America.

Caitlin Hall

UNC policy exclusionary

Much ado has been made over the University of North Carolina's post-Sept. 11 policy of requesting that all incoming students read an interpretation of the Quran. I agree superficially with most Americans in believing the policy to be a poor one. However, because the reasons many give for objecting to it are far more ludicrous than the policy itself, both merit consideration.

Many conservatives, especially those on the religious right, take issue with the fact that the Quran is being impressed upon malleable young college minds. However, in order to grasp why it's crucial that we not allow the War on Terror to become a crusade against Islam, we must understand exactly what Islam preaches. Introducing America's youth to its sacred text promotes awareness and compassion in a time when both are desperately needed.

"Requiring students to study an interpretation of only the Quran encourages a monolithic approach to the consideration of religion. -Caitlin Hall

Equally misguided are the liberals who allege that examining religion in a public school, regardless of the context, constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause. As long as texts such as the Quran are employed solely on the basis of their instructional ÷ rather than persuasive ÷ merit, such a claim is faulty.

My qualm with the UNC policy is that it is unduly exclusive. Granted, it would not be prudent, or even possible, to subject all religions to equal academic scrutiny. However, requiring students to study an interpretation of only the Quran encourages a monolithic approach to the consideration of religion rather than the reconciliation of multiple religious traditions. This misdirection is a pressing concern whenever a single religious account, be it the Quran or the Bible, is promoted or examined more vigorously than all others.

If there is one lesson we should take from Sept. 11, it is that we cannot afford to wait for a crisis to catalyze our involvement in the world. Our neglect and ignorance of Islam, if they did not contribute directly to the attack, at least fueled the vicious ethnically motivated attacks on Arabs in the United States soon after.

Until UNC encourages its students to become informed on all major world religions ÷ not just Christianity and Islam ÷ the policy is lamentably reactionary and only fortifies our country's myopic worldview. Let us hope, for the sake of our nation and the rest of the world, that American students begin to open their minds and books out of curiosity, rather than necessity.