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United States history is rife with examples of religious bigotry the nation later outgrew after decades of assimilation with Catholics, Mormons and Jews, said visiting scholar Reza Aslan.
Islam will in time surmount the same obstacles, he said. But the politicized rhetoric against all things Islam means the stakes are much higher this time in the fight against divisiveness and for the American dream.
Aslan, author of the best-selling books No god But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization and the End of the War on Terror, told an overflow crowd Monday night at the Salt Lake City Main Library's auditorium that the best way to preserve the nation's tradition of religious freedom rests not in education. Instead, it resides in fostering relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims.