Hitchens always seems to be looking for new examples in his campaign against extremist Islam, to go along with other cases he’s highlighted such as the persecution of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, or the notorious Danish cartoons that supposedly blasphemed Allah and the Prophet Muhammed. As many other neo-cons are anxious to do, Hitchens would love to portray a situation where liberal Americans are in overt or unwitting collusion with the extremists, usually through their supposed over-sensitivity to multiculturalist issues. I’m not sure that the case with Your Black Muslim Bakery deserves to be included even within the lax parameters that Hitchens has established for making a fuss about such things.

Sadly, Oakland is a troubled city with one of the worst violent crime rates in the country. Whether there is some attitude or strategy on the part of the Oakland Police Department that has allowed these problems to worsen I can’t say. But I certainly don’t believe that anyone was out to protect Your Black Muslim Bakery (“YBMB,” which, it should be pointed out, has nothing to do with the “black muslims” of the more prominent Nation of Islam organization). Oakland’s problems long pre-dated the tenures of both mayor Ron Dellums and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and it would be unfair to lay the blame at their feet.

As just another example of horrific black-on-black violence in cities like Oakland, this case is part of a social, not a political, nor a religious, problem. And if there’s any connection with liberal politics, it’s only coincidental that most urban minority communities tend to elect Democrats like Dellums and Lee (or like former California Governor Jerry Brown, who was Dellums’ predecessor as Oakland’s mayor). If we’re going to start drawing sweeping conclusions from the sometimes awkward political alliances that form on the fringes of any mainstream party, it’s only fair to include other institutions like the racist, ultra-conservative Christian extremists of Bob Jones University and its allies on the political right.

Like urban crime elsewhere in the country, violent crime in Oakland has recently gotten worse after a previous decade of declining crime rates. Reasons given include things like gangs, drugs, and the easy availability of illegal guns. Despite Hitchens' evident terror at what he seems to see as the inexorable encroachment of "sharia baking" across our nation, from the sound of it (and despite the cute little bowties), YBMB was essentially just another gang.

There is a great difference between Bob Jones University and the Black Muslim movement. Calling BJU "racist" because of past internal policies that prohibited inter-racial dating is simply dishonest. Further, you ignore the influence of YBMB and BJU respectively on their communities. Instead of what you admit is "gang" activity and "horrible . . . violence" and YBMB's negative impact on the Oakland community, observe BJU's long-standing commitment to the Greenville community--including minorities. BJU's influence has, for the most part, demonstrated Christ's love for all, regardless of race or ethnicity. And this characteristic of biblical Christianity, however imperfectly it is lived out in Christians' lives, is in sharp contrast with the teachings of Islam.

The initial post is outstanding and makes me rethink my initial credit to Mr Hitchens for reporting on the YBMB at all (addressed in a separate post). Oakland's situation is just coming to light, as it has been many years since I travelled in the Bay Area.

Re: wrdueck. Please explain the following conclusion you have written.

"And this characteristic of biblical Christianity, however imperfectly it is lived out in Christians' lives, is in sharp contrast with the teachings of Islam."

I would suggest you know little to nothing of Islam, apart from its portrayal by the likes of Mr Hitchens. I know little of Bob Jones University, but based upon what I have read, I find it difficult to believe that it, and its sponsoring church, are centres of humanist enlightenment.

Some informed response from Mr Hitchens regarding how he has developed his knowledge of the teachings of Islam or of the less-institutionalised atheism that he banters on about would seem in order. His provocative musings do not reflect well on the vaunted university that presumably invested some quality time in his "enlightenment".

I wasn’t so much trying to equate YBMB with BJU directly, but just making the point that politics can sometimes make for strange bedfellows, especially out on the fringes (in answer to Hitchens’ implication that the Oakland politicians were at least partly to blame for YBMB’s continued existence and therefore also bore some responsibility for their crimes).

But since you brought it up, I think that one could draw some parallels between BJU and extremist Islam, not in terms of BJU ever advocating violence or murder, of course, but in terms of enforcing a very harsh, prejudiced and restrictive set of cultural and social prohibitions. You make it sound like the only racist policy that BJU ever had was their interracial dating prohibition, but it was only back in the 1970s that they refused to admit African Americans, and their repeal of the dating restriction was only done very recently, I think in 2000 or 2001, and only in response to a good public shaming by the press after George W. Bush made a stop there. Ronald Reagan tried to thwart the federal government in its effort to revoke BJU’s tax-exempt status and collect on back taxes because of its previous racist admissions policy. So there was an active relationship between leading Republicans and BJU while it still had racist policies in place.

And what to make of BJU’s apparent censoring and restricting its students’ access to music, film, television, internet, etc? You say that BJU embodies “Christ’s love,” but when did Jesus express disapproval of jazz music, black people or interracial dating? Was Jesus a right-wing Republican? Did he hate gays and Catholics? Policies like these seem to me to be just the opposite of love, and more similar to policies of the Taliban than practically any other Western institution I’ve ever heard of. People who are so quick to condemn the bigotry and hatred of extremist muslims ought to make sure they’re not harboring or excusing similar attitudes on their own side.

Since you're apparently Swiss, are you equally well-spoken in five or six other languages besides English? You guys put us yanks to shame with your language skills.

Excellent points in this last post and some new history around BJU for me, most of which I can say is forgettable if relevant here. I would add that most Muslims are less aggressive in the practice of their faith than US Christians. I know the Muslim world in much of Asia, Arabia, the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa. I am quite comfortable there; less so in Bible Belt America. It is often easier to get a good beer or whiskey in most of the Muslim region than in parts of the US where they know neither to begin with.

Americans seem to think that Muslim men--and women-- live with strapped to balls and chains. Not so. Like every society, they have much to do to right their social histories. One in the West must ask just what it is about Islam that appeals to so many. Islam is a faith about how to live life amongst others--and often in situations of shortage and climactic stress. Christianity has fostered individualism. Generosity, restraint and balance are key in Islam. It is fully an Abrahamic religion incorporating the teachings of Judaïsm and Christ in the Qu'uran. Few seem to comprehend this. The question of authority is where the debates are, just as in Christianity. Perhaps truth lay between the two.

Would Mr Hitchens please share some of his understanding of Islamic theology? I suspect he learned it from a Bulgarian taxi driver whilst returning from a bar in London.

It should be noted that violent crimes--apart from extremist terrorism--is nearly non-existant in the Muslim world. Even in Cairo, one of the world's largest cities. This is the result of Islam, not US-style law enforcement. That said, I'm not eager to live in either the US or the Muslim world. Both are painfully out of balance at the moment.

In response to your question on language, I was born into an English-speaking family and focused on English academics. Most of life has been lived in French-speaking communities, so I'm bilingual. Generally, every European has one dominant mother tongue; most develop bilingual abilities or high fluency in another language (less often true of the Italians, French, British or Spanish, which are large, monolingual societies).

There are four official languages in Switzerland. Most speak their native cantonal tongue (French, German, Italian or Roma) and then try to function in either German or French. Few truly achieve this beyond basic discussion and reading, but rarely in writing. Additionally, German speakers are taught Hochdeutsch, but speak alémanique/Schwytzertütsch (part of a family of Rheinland German dialects) in one of three distinct dialects (Zürcher, Baseler, Berner). Non-German-born Swiss like me learn standard (Hochdeutsch) German in school. Most Swiss Germans prefer to speak English with non-Swiss Germans. Schools are concerned that Swiss German is inadequate in Europe, where Hochdeutsch is the professional and legal standard. Pressure is rising to move away from the more colloquial Swiss German. No parallel problem exists for French or Italian speakers.

Americans need not feel so behind on this; few here make any effort to learn languages beyond the other side of our families or borders. Is there serious evidence of Spanish competency outside the Hispanic communities in the US? The absence of crossover there mystifies people here.