Why Can't We All Get Along?

The Council of American Muslims for Understanding, an organization created by the U.S. State Department, has been trying to impress Muslims abroad with glowing portrayals of religious diversity and tolerance in the United States. Unfortunately, the Bush administration's supporters in the Christian Coalition of America (CCA) have been sending a different message. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling an upcoming CCA conference an "Islamophobic hate-fest." Speakers include Daniel Pipes, who says "increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims...will present true dangers to American Jews," and WorldNetDaily.com Editor Joseph Farah, who says "Islam has been at war with the West, with Christianity, with Judaism ... ever since the days of Muhammad." Former CCA head Pat Robertson has also been a regular contributor to the rhetorical war, saying that Muslims are worse than Hitler.