Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2005
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2005 Detroit Free Press
Contact:  http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Cited: Detroit Science Center http://www.detroitsciencecenter.org
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1271/a06.html

ANTI-DRUG EXHIBIT

Keep Taliban Flag in Display, and in Perspective

A new Detroit Science Center exhibit on drugs and their connections 
to terrorism contains many disturbing images, including models of a 
crack house and cocaine processing lab, and a video on how drugs 
affect the brain. But it is a handmade flag of the Taliban in 
Afghanistan, tucked behind a display showing the rubble of 9/11, that 
has generated the most discomfort.

Some Arab Americans and Muslims are upset because they believe the 
white flag -- proclaiming in Arabic: "There is no God but Allah, and 
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" -- unfairly ties Islam to 
terrorism and distorts the religion's message. They want the U.S. 
Drug Enforcement Administration, which created the exhibit, to remove 
the flag. It's part of a small display on possible connections 
between the Taliban, Al Qaeda and drug trafficking.

That some Muslims are offended is understandable. Some Christians 
would object if the Lord's Prayer were somehow tied to acts of 
violence. Some Jews would protest if the Star of David were 
associated with brutality.

The DEA defends exhibiting the flag, arguing that it is a succinct 
symbol of the Taliban regime. Creating offense alone does not make an 
image unworthy, any more than it detracts from a work of art.

But there's a larger reason the exhibit should remain intact, despite 
public pressure to remove the flag. It conveys a universal message 
for those open enough to see it. Crimes against humanity have been 
committed in the name of every religion. Too often, the beliefs that 
should elevate people have, instead, debased them. No one should 
taint a religion because of the warped ideology of a few.

The real quarrel of believers should be with those who twist the 
tenets of their faith and turn them into a message of hate. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake