Ask the Expert: Sally Steenland on religion and politics

How does anti-Muslim rhetoric put U.S. national security at risk? (Alex Lindsay, Washington, D.C. via Facebook)

Anti-Muslim rhetoric puts our national security at risk because those who say Christianity is at war with Islam, or Islam is not compatible with democracy or American Values, what those people are doing is actually echoing the recruiting method of Al Qaeda. That's what they say. That's how they recruit people. That's what bin Laden has always been saying. First of all, it isn't true, but it gives violent extremsists - it elevates them to being religious warriors (which is what they want), and it's a status that they don't deserve. It also puts our troops at risk, and it risks security within our own borders. One of the things we do is count on Muslim Americans in this country who have been key to helping us keep our country secure. They have been important in identifying and preventing radicalization and working with law enforcement. So if we say to our fellow citizens, "You can't be trusted - you're not loyal to this country" we are strongly weakening our own security.

Why do religious debates get so much airtime when there are issues like poverty, lack of education, and inhuman living conditions spread wide across the world? (Ashwani Vij via Facebook)

It can be frustrating when religious debates get so much airtime when there are so many other issues that are problematic in this world from poverty and the environment and global warming, immigration, and other issues, too. And we recently just saw an example of that where a religious extremist in Florida threatened to burn a Koran. And although he didn't, he instantly became famous globally overnight and all the news chased him and covered him. One thing that's really interesting is that two years ago in the United States a religious extremist actually did burn a Koran and it got no media coverage at all. And why was that? It was because people saw it as extremist and not as news. And I think a dangerous thing that has happened in these past two years is that dangerous extremism that Terry Jones embodied in Florida is becoming more mainstream. So you see people like Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin saying very, very radical things and very negative and dangerous things about Islam and about Muslim Americans. And that is bringing extremist views into the fringe. The media loves a fight, they love a debate, they love confict, they love an argument. And what's too bad when they cover only that is that it gives a very distorted view of reality in terms of religion and faith. And what communities in this country are doing in this country in a very positive way. Because the reality is that there's amazing interfaith efforts that are going on - cooperation on many, many issues from poverty and the environment and interfaith efforts as well that have been going on for a long time but have really intensified since 9/11. So that good news deserves to be covered as well.

Where's the line between separation of chruch and state and politics? (Susan Stewart, Washington, D.C. via Facebook)

The line between separation of church and state and politics - I think someitmes depends on who you talk to. One of the great strengths of America is that we do have separation of church and state. What that means is religious liberty. It's a core value of America, it's what our founders came to this country for because many of them were persecuted in Europe for practicing their own faith, and they didn't want that to happen here. And so what religious liberty and separation of church and state means is that there's no official government religion, and you don't get either punished or rewarded for whatever faith you do practice. Now, as we know, throughout our history this has sometimes been more of an ideal than a practice but we have struggled to live up to the ideal, which is one reason that America is the envy of the world in many ways. And I think religious liberty is one of them. It's also a reason that many Muslim Americans say that America is one of the best places to be a Muslim: because you are free to pracice your faith. And so anything that would jeopardize that, anything that would threaten or weaken that not only weakens our national security but it really threatens one of America's core values.