TO THE EDITOR:
As a Moroccan, I grew up in an environment that condones violations of freedom of religion or belief. Indeed, unjust and absurd laws uphold and perpetuate these violations.
For example, Article 222 of Morocco’s penal code states that any Moroccan citizen breaking the fast in a public space during Ramadan, without a reason accepted can be imprisoned for up to six months and fined.
Now, Morocco is still held as an example of modernity and liberalism and the country is far from being the Sharia Law wasteland that evangelical Franklin Graham obsessively fears.
However, my experience as a Moroccan Muslim continues to inform my appreciation of and opinions about inter-faith conversations here in the United States.
Hence, when someone is referred to as an “extremist,” the image of a peaceful citizen who organizes a campaign to cancel the recitation of adhan from a Christian monument (which is already home to a wide variety of religious organizations) is the last thing that comes to my mind.
Referring to Franklin Graham as a right-wing extremist is a reckless exaggeration. While Graham’s obsessive fear of Sharia Law is laughable, standing in opposition to an Islamic call to prayer from Duke University’s chapel bell tower is not an act of extremism.
Duke University Chapel is primarily a Christian church. The chapel’s interdenominational character is admirable; it is home to a wide variety of different religious groups and organizations.
Above all, Duke Chapel is meant to be a place of worship, learning, dialogue and service.
