On My Mind

Something has been on my mind for a few days. I have debated writing about it, but my brain keeps coming back to it, so I am going for it.

This was recently posted on a "facebook friend's" wall.

 

The caption that went with the picture was

" They are already among us and they smile and go about their work by day and plot by night. Beware of men who have only beards and no mustaches... and have names like Abdul, and Ahmad, and Hussein, and Ijaz and Siraj and Youseff and Mohammad and Feroze and stuff.... Time to ship them all off to the Sands of Araby"

When I read this the first time, I just shook my head at ignorance. And then it really started to dig into my subconcious. I am not climbing on a political or moral high horse, I promise. but I do have something to get off my chest. I understand that the acts of terror have been commited by radical Muslims. I also understand that even before we had time to process the Boston Marathon Bombing, our brains were already assuming the terror was caused by someone with ties to Al Quedia. The recent history gives us all reason to think that way, that our terror is caused by these radical Muslim terror cells.

What our recent history doesn't give us reason to believe is that ALL Muslims are terrorists. That sort of ignorant thinking scares me. It makes me see flashes of yellow stars, millions of discarded shoes, black and white prison clothes hanging on mere skeletons of humans, and fading blue tatoos on forearms. What makes the statement on that photo any different than the propoganda that Hitler spread causing enough hate to kill 6 million people simply because they were Jewish? I have friends who are practicing Muslims. Some by birth and others by marriage. Some cover themsleves with traditional garments, or facial hair, others have no outward signs of their faith. They have a different belief than me. They have different religious rules that govern their lives. Beyond that they are not much different than I am. They are good people trying to navigate this world the best way they know how. They do not deserve to be the focus of hate.

In recent weeks, Jews around the world observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Rememberance Day. It is a day that is filled with the phrase "we will never forget". To me, this phrase is not only cautioning us to remember the Holocaust and the horrors of that time in history, but also to remember how it happened. How and entire race became the focus of so much hate. And in remembering that, we are bound to do our part in preventing it from happening again. But if we allow ourselves to be overcome with fear and hate for an entire religion because of the horrid and disgusting behavior of a small percentage of that religion, we are stepping onto a dark path. We are dividing ourselves and weakening our spirit. We are looking for evil in every face we meet. Instead of hating and fearing those who are different than us, learn from them. Be inquisitive and ask questions. Those questions lead to conversations which lead to a better understanding of others. Teach our children to value the differences in others. Look for ways to strengthen your own beliefs without destroying the beliefs of another. Refuse to use your own religious beliefs to belittle the beliefs of others. And most importantly don't blanket an entire group with hate without cause because as my mother always told me "hate is a strong word and it is hard to take back once you say it."

 

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