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You know those forwarded e-mails that you occasionally (or regularly) get? The kind that pass along warnings that are nothing more than a new (or not so new) take on an urban legend. Sometimes, they feature troublesome political content that is hard to ignore.
I received one of these e-mails the other day. Basically, it is a call to citizens to boycott a postage stamp that commemorates the Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, indicating that “To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those Americans who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.” It goes on to ask that the reader remember tragedies attributed to Muslim fundamentalists, such as the bombings of PanAm Flight 103, American embassies in Africa and the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Read the full message and Snopes’ analysis of it here.
This is an ignorant and offensive call to arms. First of all, the direct translation of the Islamic calligraphy on the stamp is “blessed festival,” which is paraphrased as “May your religious holiday be blessed.” It is ironic that this message—which can be read as both inclusive and non-specific to Muslims—is perceived as threatening.
Second of all, the Eids are part of the Muslim faith and attributing them to Muslim fundamentalist ideology is no different than arguing that fundamentalist Christian attacks on abortion clinics are reason to boycott Jesus stamps and Christmas carols.
Further, it is not as though the money generated by the stamp benefits any Muslim organizations. Even George W. Bush has extended greetings to Muslims (who will be this country’s second-largest faith by 2010) in celebration of the Eids.
Receiving this e-mail so close to Veteran’s Day was particularly troubling to me. We celebrate the lives of soldiers who fought and died overseas so that we can enjoy the freedoms laid out in our Constitution, including the freedom to practice (or not practice) the religion of our choice. I can hear Walter Sobchak now: “I didn’t watch my buddies die face down in the muck for you to shit on my Arab neighbor’s Muslim stamp!”
I am also planning on picking up these stamps for our holiday cards this year, along with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa stamps. Why don’t they make atheist stamps?
Song of the day: “Father And Son,” Yusef Islam (née Cat Stevens).
Filed under: raging thoughts | Tagged: eid, fear, holidays, islam, muslim, prejudice
Dont you find it alarming that the ignorant folks are always the most VOCAL, too?
What a shame!
Hah! I suppose any secular holiday stamp counts as an atheist stamp.
That is disgusting. I hate fear mongering. Heaven forbid they spend their time creating emails that carry value and worth this time of year, or attempt to celebrate the culture of our country. What a bunch of pigs.
This is so remarkable. It’s amazing what organized religion will do to the world.
The post is spot on.
Because atheism isn’t a religious belief, it is the absence of one, maybe? I don’t know. It seems that atheist scholars would object to such a thing.
I totally bought these stamps for my holiday cards this year. Glad they were available again this year!