― Steve Goodier
According to the council meeting minutes of 18th June 2014, over 200 objections were received to the plan for various reasons ranging from noise pollution, traffic and car park increase and the impact on vegetation. These issues and more were addressed with lengthy and thorough explanations and referrals to appropriate departments, ranging from VicRoads to the Civil Air Safety Authority. All were satisfied that the development posed no threat.
Objector and local councillor Elise Chapman defended her views in an article in The Age on June 20th, 2014. Claiming that she based her opposition on planning matters, she then argued that; ‘Every day in the media there are cases of people being raped by Muslims’ and that Islamic practices taught followers that non-believers were ‘not worthy and should be killed.’ The article also reports claims that the mosque would ‘overthrow the Australian Constitution, increase violence in the region, and see an influx of Islam believers ‘descend’ on Bendigo’. it could be surmised that her reasons for objecting were not what they seemed.
The assumption that violence, including rape can be linked to any one culture is ludicrous.
‘Violence against women occurs across all religious beliefs, level of education, sexual orientation, occupation, community position, or cultural/ethnic background.’ (White Ribbon website, listed below)
Chapman created further controversy after she responded to a twitter follower who supported the mosque with a disturbing, graphic image of infant girls with mutilated genitals ‘crying as they lie on the floor with blood seeping from their wounds.’ An interpretation of the Quran (4:119) ‘forbids man to change nature or mutilate any creature… incluing female circumcision’ (wikipedia.org) Religious scholarly argument on this controversial practice is likely to continue. Female genital mutilation is prohibited by Australian law and is being fought globally by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. It is a complicated and emotive issue which does not belong to the conversation regarding the Bendigo mosque.
Fear is also spread through targeted campaigns led by anti-Islamic organisations, who track mosque applications around the country looking for opportunities to ‘…flirt with, then hijack, local campaigns against mosques.’ (Jakubowicz, in Johnston, 2014). Andrew Jakubowicz, a specialist in multiculturalism at the University of Technology in Sydney, who also studies global internet racism, continued by stating that the organisations ‘shape communities worries into a concerted political campaign’ This is backed up by the analysis of a Bendigo based, anti-mosque facebook page, which showed only 3% of members were local. Many objections to the mosque were received from interstate ‘submitted with identical text on identical forms with identical anti-Islamic material.’ (Johnston, 2014)
Restore Australia is a Queensland based organisation headed by former One Nation candidate Mike Holt, and Vietnam veteran Charles Mollison. Holt has confirmed that $10,000 donated to the organisation (an extremist far-right group espousing a strong anti-Islamic agenda), was given to two Victorian groups fighting the mosque. The Islamophobic groups are Stop the Mosque in Bendigo, and a Victorian chapter of the Patriot Defence League Australia.
The media has portrayed the Islamic faith in a negative light for some years now, with the ‘9/11’ attacks in America the main catalyst for equating Islamic faith with terrorism.
So what are the facts?
Propaganda claims that Muslims hate Jesus, hate Christians, oppress women and children, use violence to convert non-believers and wish to kill all who don’t agree with their ideologies. Facts and history tell a different story.
According to an article published online in 2010, (listverse website below), the word ‘Islam’ simply means, ‘submission to God’. Jesus is mentioned as being a messenger of God, and an example of virtue and good character. The Quran also teaches freedom and respect for all faiths. In Jerusalem in 634 AD, the Islamic ruler Umar granted freedom to all religious communities, including the sanctity of their places of worship. Even in war there is evidence of justice practiced by Islamic communities. Defeated armies were honoured and supplied with food. During the third Crusade, Saladin even sent his enemy king Richard gifts of fruit and horses when he fell sick.
One of the most prevalent myths inherent in anti-Islamic propaganda regards the treatment of women in Muslim countries. Stories abound of women being treated as chattels, their lives not valued by the oppressive patriarchal society. That this does occur is not in dispute. That women suffer daily abuse is also not in dispute. These injustices are unacceptable and should be fought on an international stage. These atrocities however are not committed through adherence to Islamic law but in spite of it.
‘Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church’
‘Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded.’
The first of these quotes is 1 Corinthians 14:34-36 of the Bible, the latter is 4:34 of the Quran, according to the Skeptics Annotated Bible (see link below). Few modern Christians would adhere to the directive that women not speak in church, but few malign Christianity because of it. Faith, as in society, must develop and grow. Context is important. Nowhere in the Quran is a Muslim woman forbidden from leaving her home or from driving. She has the right to marry who she chooses and the right to seek a divorce.
Neither does the Quran permit terrorism. In ‘A Brief Illustrated Guide to Islam’ (Link below) ‘God does not forbid you from showing kindness and dealing justly with those who have not fought you about religion and have not driven you out of your homes. God loves just dealers’. Murder is the second of the major sins and on the day of judgement ‘the first cases to be adjudicated … will be those of bloodshed’.
‘Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness, and the vast majority have nothing to do with the violent events some have associated with Muslims.’
As in many religions, there are extremist or radical groups who pervert the intention of their teachings to justify hatred and acts of atrocity. The media have latched onto Muslims and fear runs rife through our society. Fear and ignorance can be seen as the enemy of community cohesion and acceptance.
So if the ideologies of Islam are not as they are perceived, the building of a mosque in Bendigo does not pose a threat to Bendigo’s security. The issue becomes simpler. Australian citizenship ceremonies clearly emphasise freedom of religion. We don’t have to agree, we don’t have to convert, but we do need to honour that right and allow people the freedom to practice their religion.
Heartfelt community opinion and belief, fed by media linking Islam and terroristic acts, can only be challenged by a reasoned and impartial response. Comments such as: ‘Their (Islamic) law says that the only way to get to heaven is through terrorism’ need to be countered with rational exploration of the facts, ie, that martyrdom is achieved through any service to God. In other words, if you are on your way to a mosque and die in a car accident, you are a martyr.
A local Bendigo couple, Samuel and Melissa Tshisekedi, have founded an organisation called ‘Voice of Reason’, which aims to bring people together to discuss issues impacting the community. The couple foster an atmosphere of acceptance of all people, regardless of their opinions, and stress the principles of the group. These include valuing all people, being courteous regardless of passions and differences, focusing on what is said rather than who said it, and to learn from one another rather than convince others. They envisage a community that can disagree but still stay together.
Meetings of Voice of Reason are held on the last Friday of each month at the Bendigo library from 6 to 7.30pm. Next month’s topic is marriage equality, but Samuel and Melissa are looking for a larger venue to hold a conversation about the mosque. The Bendigo Advertiser, on Thursday June 26th 2015, reported their difficulties in finding such a venue. Two un-named theatre-type venues have refused to hold the event citing fears of damage to their public image. Eighty-six year old local resident Letitia Runnalls, while not necessarily in favour of the mosque, was surprised at the article.
‘It’s a conversation. What’s wrong with having a conversation?’ She theorised that fear, whether warranted or not, was probably behind their reluctance.
A visit to the proposed site of the mosque, in Rowena St East Bendigo, shows a deserted construction site. A few temporary sheds, the detritus of construction awaits approval before going ahead. In accordance with the planning approval, offset re-vegetation is evident, tracks have been cleared where roadways hope to eventually surround the modern, two storey building.
Bendigo is a growing community, and has the reputation for being multi-cultural and inclusive. Let’s hope that reputation is accurate, that reason, logic and respect will win against hatred and ignorance, and that all of Bendigo’s inhabitants are treated equally, and allowed the freedom we promised them.
Andrea Caffrey
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/says_about/womens_rights.html
http://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-11.htm
Jakubowicz, A, in Johnston, C ‘The Age’ June 28th 2014, ‘Bendigo mosque a cause celebre for right-wing outsiders’
http://listverse.com/2009/07/10/top-10-misconceptions-about-islam/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_female_genital_mutilation