“Little Mosque on the Prairie”

Last updated on: May 7, 2013 at 6:47 pm by Svend White

“Little Mosque on the Prairie” 2013-05-07T18:47:29-05:00 Svend White

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world". Today, those most able to lay claim to the mantle of behind-the-scenes leadership of the world would be filmmakers rather than poets.

Hence the importance of popular culture. Whether or not one approves of this state of affairs, you can be sure that "The Cosby Show" had more impact on racial attitudes than every enlightened book, article or sermon of its time combined. Some would argue that its legacy there is mixed (e.g., Sut Jhally & Justin Lewis’ fascinating media study Enlightened Racism: The Cosby Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream), but that’s another discussion. Its influence on popular attitudes as arguably the first major unambiguously positive portrayal of an African-American family in TV history in simply beyond question.

It gets progressively harder to hate or stereotype as you watch heartwarming stories of another group that remind you of their humanity, however much they may differ from you. I’m sure that many a raging gay-basher has been slowly been dragged in spite of his best efforts to a more balanced and compassionate view of gays by daily exposure to sitcoms like "Will & Grace".

So the groundbreaking new Canadian sitcom "Little Mosque on the Prairie" is cause for celebration for Muslims and all people who value tolerance and peace in North America. Its creator is Zarqa Nawaz, who made a gem of a documentary a few years back called "Me and the Mosque" .

At the moment, you can watch its the first episode on YouTube.com.

I’ve watched it and was very impressed. It’s such a breath of fresh air on multiple levels.

And you can be sure that the Muslim-bashing crowd is watching this series’ reception with baited breath. Were a show like this to be a big hit, it would be a disaster for their agenda and the lazy sound-bytes it depends on to sound reasonable. As anyone who tried to shout down "Fahrenheit 9/11" or "The Da Vinci Code " knows, the conventional means of manufacturing consent (a crucial component of which is discrediting your political opponents through negative portrayals in other arenas, such as pop culture) are quite useless against pop culture juggernauts.

Hurry and catch it before it gets yanked off YouTube.

Exciting things happening up north. As usual, when it comes to open debate and multiculturalism, Canada is leading the way in North America.

Will continue on this topic later.

Update (2007-01-13) – A few stylistic tweaks.

Muslims in the Melting Pot

Previous Post

January 12, 2007

Amazon.com joins the lynching of President Carter

Next Post

January 14, 2007 Mainstream sources for rebuttals of Neocon sophistry

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category American Politics Animals in Islam Anti-Semitism Christian Jihadism Christianity Culture & the Arts Current Affairs Denmark Dogs in Islam Family life Film Gender Great MP3s Hate in America Imam W.D. Mohammed Interfaith Dialogue International Affairs Islam and the Left Islamic Thought Islamophobia Jihad Judaism Legos Link of the Day Marriage Misc Modernity/Post-Modernity Mormonism Multiculturalism Music Muslims in the Melting Pot Must-Listen Podcasts Non-Muslims and Islam Pakistan Pictures Pigs in Islam Polygamy Pork Progressive Muslims Race Relations Really Important Stuff Religion Required Reading Robert Spencer Scandinavia Science Science Fiction Sex in Islam So-called Globalization South Asia Star Trek Strange but True Studying Arabic Stupid Muslim Tricks Sufism/Tasawwuf Television The "Miami 7" hoopla The Corporate Media The Danish cartoons The GWOT The Jihad against Islam The Middle East Vikings! Wahhabism/Salafism Washington and the Middle East Web/Tech Women in Islam

Select a Month March 2014 February 2014 November 2013 September 2013 July 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 September 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Boaz's kinsman-redeemer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Naomi Ruth Elimelech Unnamed relative