“The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam” -Barack Obama

I’m going to post two pictures that completely sum up why people hate Americans

Caption: I decided to make myself look like Al-quieda 😀 #me #personal #terrorist #scarf #hair #curly #selfshot #gAy

Caption: #terrorist #al-queda #idk how to spell #lol # christmas

Don’t ask me where the christmas hashtag comes from, but the rest can speak for themselves. Since when did a a life long tradition of covering your head ( a practice many people in the desert areas have adopted)  make you a terrorist? Since when was it ok to even reference such a serious term “terrorist” in the form of a joke? Since when did the mass murder of millions become funny?

Apperently in America, it’s all just a joke.

I’m sorry America, last time I checked we are the country with the highest muslim populatiuon on the continent, and it’s time to finally let things go and allow them to join the melting pot.

America claims to be “the melting pot of cultures”, but since it’s birth there has always been persecution. Whether you be a Quaker  black, native american,Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Hispanic, German, or Middle Eastern, I assure you your ancestors were grossly mistreated in our country.

But why? Think back to any example of a sterotype you know. If you look closely enough, each and every one of those is based off some sort of truth. The problem is when a true assumption about a small group of people (for example, Al-Queda) is pushed upon a much broader group, rendering the previous assumption false.

So what has caused this Islamophobia? The most common answer would be 9/11 and the events that followed, however life is never that simple. Muslims have been persecuted since ancient times, based solely on the fact that they are different. Europeans say them as an unstoppable mass that would take over their land and destroy their faith.

Although yes, Muslims conquered a massive amount of land in a very short amount of time, the countries they ruled over had religious freedom. They didn’t want anyone in their faith who didn’t actually want to be there. I can’t exactly say the same for the Christians… we started a war that was supposed to help religious pilgrims and then just used it to gain land and money during the crusades (Why does that sound awfully familiar… ).

And still we have created this negative image of all things Islamic. On American media, Jack Shaheen states ” Arab Muslims are fanatics who believe in a different god, who don’t value human life as much as we do, they are intent on destroying us (the west) with their oil or with their terrorism; the men seek to abduct and brutally seduce our women; they are without family and reside in a primitive place (the desert) and behave like primitive beings. The women are subservient — resembling black crows ”

Let’s go step by step on how each thing he said was completely and utterly wrong.

  1. Arab Muslims are fanatics who believe in a different god: In reality, Muslims believe in the same God as Jews and Christians. In fact, Muslims believe they are descended from Abraham, the father of Judaism.
  2. don’t value human life as much as we do: Muslims live life just like anyone else, and nowhere in their religion or laws do they accept taking the life of another human being. In fact, Muslims are innately peaceful.
  3. intent on destroying us (the west) with their oil or with their terrorism: For one, Muslims never used oil as a weapon. Second, we destroy ourselves going after the oil that comes from their land. Lastly, yes a small radical group who say they’re Muslim have done atrocious things. But if you look at some American cults that think raping children is wonderful and that the end of the world is near(yes, these exist) they also claim to be Christian, and in no way represent Christians as a whole.
  4. the men seek to abduct and brutally seduce our women: Ok Muslims don’t even believe in drinking, and they certainly don’t allow sex before marriage. If an American woman wants to marry a Muslim, it’s of her own free will and frankly nobody’s business.
  5.  they are without family: This is the one that pains me the most to hear. My best friend is Muslim, and every weekend she was spending time with her extended family. Family is one of the most important parts of Islam.
  6. reside in a primitive place (the desert) and behave like primitive beings: As seen in the map above, Muslims inhabit a large majority of the world. And as for those who do live in the desert, they have built massive cities and irrigation systems, and have made major advances in medicine, math, and architecture. Come talk to me about primitive when you can build that with primitive tools.
  7. The women are subservient — resembling black crows: Muslim women are extremely independent. the way that  women are treated in A Thousand Splendid Suns may be accurate for some countries in the Middle East, but has basically no sway in America. Muslim women even post selfies with their faces covered. It begs the question, what is real beauty, and what is an image that is thrust upon us by our society?

 

So how do we get past these stereotypes? There will always be conflict in the Middle East. Whether it be involving American, Jews, or communists, it seems to be a place that houses political and social unrest. As long as these things keep happening, people are going to continue to blame the Muslim faith, because so many extremists kill in the name of Allah. As long as people like Hamas exist, cartoons like this will go on:

Is it fair to the rest of the Muslims who only want peace? But underneath the different clothing and skin colors, we’re really all the same. In the end, WE ARE AMERICANS. I think that if people met more Muslims, ate their delicious food, and learned more of the FACTS rather than believing the things they see in the movies and calling them fact, we can move on from this prejudice, as we have moved on from so many prejudices.

As the Kuran states, “Live in peace, not in pieces.”