VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Big Bubba towed through Houma
December 18, 2015
Egret in Flight
December 18, 2015
It is that time of year when those of us to whom the birth of Jesus Christ is important focus a little more, perhaps, on that message of peace on earth and good will toward men, even when the world around us is anything but peaceful, and good will toward anyone is, at best, conditional.
Two events of national significance – one unfortunately already having occurred and the other yet to come – have significantly eroded both concepts.
The mass murder that occurred in San Bernardino, Ca. Dec. 2 reverberated all the way to the bayou country, and continues to do so, just as the mass attacks in France did, only more so.
I monitored the police response to the California carnage as it occurred, courtesy of a cell phone application. I heard the gunshots that rasped through police radios during the ensuing gunfight, not knowing why or how the crime precipitating it had occurred.
As elements of the investigation unfolded, so did news regarding the upcoming choice by Republicans of a candidate to occupy the White House, in particular the suggestion of a ban on travel into the U.S. by people of the Muslim faith, which really is a whole lot of people, and whose religion cannot be determined by DNA or other objective, scientific tests. The violence in California came on the heels of a national debate over Syrian refugees, who have been vilified due to the acts of the very people most are running from.
Roundly criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike, the suggestion was branded as nearly Hitlerian by some. Generally, it appears acceptable to many folks around here, moved to fear like so many of their fellow Americans.
The question arises in Houma and Thibodaux, Chauvin and Pointe-aux-Chenes, from people more in touch than ever with the rest of the world through the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle. If Muslims want to be treated like everyone else, then where are the leaders condemning what occurred in California or Paris, not to mention other acts of terrorism that have taken place throughout the world?
While not nearly such attractive news fodder as the talking heads preaching distrust and animus, they are here.
I mean, like, right here.
Last week I visited a mosque in Houma, a place mostly indistinguishable from neighboring industrial buildings. In a quiet room where a large red rug dominates, about two dozen men lay prostrate in supplication to God, the god of Abraham, Moses and the Jews, the deity who is, in Christian theology, identified as God the Father.
They came from all walks of life. Some wore the uniform of the oilfields or shipyards, a few the sport coats of the more “professional” among us. The supplicants spoke little. The Imam did most of the talking.
Abderazak Benyahia, the holy man, who comes regularly from Shreveport to conduct services here, left no doubt during his words to the faithful about the attackers in California.
Such people, he said, are not of Islam, because Islam rejects violence against the innocent.
The Muslim faithful, said the Imam, who is referred to by people close to him simply as “Ben,” believe in social justice. They believe in peace except when under attack.
“These terrorist groups are killing more Muslim groups, they are out there to kill anybody in their way who opposes them,” he said in a follow-up interview. “We strive to be good citizens of this country.”
During his sermon, Benyahia spoke of his faith’s focus on charity, to Christians, to Jews and “even the atheists.”
A native of Algeria, Benyahia – a naturalized American citizen – notes that despite his citizenship he regards himself as a guest. Some who come here from other countries who may claim Islam, he said, fail to realize that here they are guests. Guests should not destroy the homes of their hosts, or harm members of the families of their hosts.
We are afraid right now, many of us, of Muslims. More and more Muslims are afraid of us. I got a call Monday from a Muslim friend. While he and I were at the mosque in Houma, his uncle in California was fleeing a different one, where a home-grown terrorist set a fire. Could I please not mention the location of the mosque in what I write, he asked. And so in a country where I never dreamed of seeing terror like the Sept. 11 attacks, I see something also unthinkable. In my country, in my community, like Jews in the Nazi death grip, are people afraid to say where their house of worship is. God bless us every one. Every single one.
Imam Abderazak Benyahia, who conducts prayer services at a mosque in Houma and other Louisiana locations.
