FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Let's debate critical issues without fear or taboo

Let's debate critical issues without fear or taboo

Openness in expressing and receiving opinions will show us where we really stand on issues of national importance

Anti-Muslim sentiments have been dominating headlines in the United States in recent weeks.

From the anti-Islam demonstration outside a Phoenix mosque to a Muslim passenger being denied a can of soft drink by a flight attendant who was afraid that she might use it as a weapon – and all sorts of incidents in between – Islam and Muslims in the United States find themselves in an unwanted spotlight. 
Beside the headlines in the traditional mainstream and local press, social media was also another outlet for both sides – the anti-Islam group and sympathisers – to bash each other.
The people behind this backlash and hardening rhetoric in the US call themselves patriots. They come mainly from the conservative side. Their fear is not only centred on terrorist attacks but a conviction that Islam has no place in their country. 
According to a 2013 survey by Pew Research Centre for US Politics and Policy, 62 per cent of supporters of the Republican Party believe Islam is more likely than any other religion to promote violence. 
Among Democrat Party supporters, on the other hand, the figure stood at 29 per cent in 2013. But in 2002-03, Democrats who shared that view had spiked from 22 per cent to 43 per cent.
Needless to say, the poll indicated that Americans’ opinion have taken on two different tracks.
Such a poll, in Thailand, might create an uproar. It’s just not in our political culture to face up to such an issue in such a straightforward manner. 
Suppose a similar poll in Thailand showed that most Thai people feel the same way as the Republicans in the US, Thai policy-makers would be forced to take a stand, which is something they tend to avoid.
One indication of how the Thai public would react is evident from the anti-Islam campaign in Nan province where a growing number of local people are opposed to the construction of a mosque in their province. 
Their reasoning is that a Muslim mosque could pave the way for the insurgency in the Malay-speaking three southernmost provinces to spread to their province. The conflict in deep South has claimed more than 6,000 lives – mostly Muslims – since January 2004.
Like many people in the USwho equate Islam to the fanatical activities of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, people in Nan see the news coming out of the deep South and seem to have concluded that Islam was at fault.
Sad to say, in Thailand, no prominent Buddhists or Muslim figures have come out publicly to allay the growing fear of the people in Nan or try to put the southern conflict in a proper perspective. 
It could be that our political culture prefers to deal with such a sensitive issue quietly, whereas in the US political leaders are required to take a stand for the sake of their political future as their constituency would want to know their take on key political issues.
Major American newspapers and thinkers have painted the anti-Muslim demonstrators as bigots and hypocrites – views that were probably influenced by the country’s past treatment of Native Americans, Jews and blacks.
But it’s not all bad, however. Many stories with a human face have surfaced here and there. One just has to look for it. These include the outpouring of support from non-Muslim communities, church groups, and civic organisations who have come out to protect the Muslims. 
Even in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, for example, there were non-Muslims who volunteered to sleep inside their community so it would not be targeted by firebombs.
The good thing about an open society such as America is that there are few taboos so the society can debate openly about any issue in public. These debates may generate a great deal of bitterness but they also generate critical mass and critical thinking. Open societies, it seems, have a built-in mechanism that works. 
The same can’t be really said about Thailand. We have too many taboos. But if we are to get over this hurdle and move on as a nation, we are going to face these sensitive issues head one. In this respect, a poll on sensitive issues would not be so bad.
Our national leaders need to stop thinking about unwanted results and develop the needed courage to face up to whatever a study reveals. 
Indeed, the findings may not present Thai people as benevolent as we would like to believe ourselves to be. But at least a result would be out there. Where we go from there is up to us.
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