Excerpt:
Comments on this blog regularly reveal some persistent and false stereotypes about Islam. Monday's arrest of seven suspected terrorists in North Carolina allegedly plotting violent jihad is sure to spark more.
Earlier this month in Chicago, some of the same stereotypes surfaced at an annual librarians' conference, outside a suburban hotel and in a federal courtroom. But when does valid criticism of extreme religious beliefs turn into branding an entire faith community unfairly?
That was one of the questions scholars and writers on a panel about stereotypes hoped to tackle during the American Library Association's annual meeting in Chicago earlier this month. But the event was called off when all but one panelist withdrew because they opposed the last panelist standing. Organizers said a panel of one did not offer the diversity of perspectives they were seeking.
The controversial panelist, Robert Spencer, an author of books and articles about Islam's violent teachings, blamed the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for pressuring the American Library Association to silence his point of view. He believes that CAIR has ties to the terrorist organization of Hamas.