Religious Bigotry Rears Its Ugly Head

The picture above is of the Amen family. They are one of five muslim-American families featured in The Learning Channel's (TLC) new reality show called All-American Muslim. I've watched the show, and frankly, I found it to be a bit boring. These families are just like most other American families -- they love each other, their community, and their country -- and they have the same hopes, fears, and dreams that other Americans have. It is their normalcy that I found boring.

But I think that may actually be the point TLC is trying to make with the show -- that American muslim families are no different than any other Americans. And that may just be what most bothers the ultra-right-wing-fundamentalist group Florida Family Association (FFA). They have admitted as much by saying:

Clearly this program is attempting to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and to influence them to believe that being concerned about the jihad threat would somehow victimize these nice people in this show.

Groups like the FFA are invested in promoting hate and fear. They want Americans to be afraid of certain groups like liberals, homosexuals, atheists, and muslims. The more fear and hatred they can promote against these people, the more dollars that flow into the group's coffers, and the more influential they become. When Americans start to realize that American muslims (and other groups they demonize) are no different than any other Americans, the group's influence will wane and their donations will dry up.

So the bigots at the FFA are determined to get the TLC reality show off the air -- before the Americans they have conned realize the truth. And the way they are trying to do this is by pressuring American corporations into dropping their advertising support for the show. They hope if they get all the advertisers to stop buying ad space on the show, then TLC will be forced to drop the show from its line-up.

The sad part is that the bigoted campaign may be starting to work. The FFA says that 65 of 67 advertisers they targeted have dropped their ads, including corporate giants like Bank of America and Loew's. Loew's has admitted they dropped their advertising support for the TLC program saying:

“Lowe’s has received a significant amount of communication on this program, from every perspective possible. Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lighting rod for many of those views. As a result we did pull our advertising on this program.”

It is time for decent Americans who care for their country, their fellow citizens, and fair play for all, to fight back against this bigotry. If right-wing bigots can pressure corporate America, so can decent people. I myself have shopped at Loew's in the past, but I will not spend a penny there in the future -- nor in any other company or for any product that supports this bigotry. And I urge others to do the same (and write these companies to tell them of your decision and why).

This fight is not just about a TV program. It is nothing less that a fight for the constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of religion. The FFA would like to restrict those rights. We must not let them do so.