Walk a mile....

The older I get, the more I learn that you really need to walk a mile with someone before you have any idea what they are like.

After 9-11 thanks to those who attacked our country in the name of Jihad, many Muslim Americans have been scrutinized, feared and mistrusted by a large portion of Americans.  I know several Muslim Americans, as well as Muslims who have come from other countries and have learned one thing... most of them will give the shirt off their backs if they think you need it.  I didn't learn this from reading Fox News, MSNBC, or any other website.  I learned this by living my life and observing the people around me.

The frustrating part of this is that I find people who I look up to and respect due to their intelligence on most issues, falling prey to this mindset of fear, ignorance and hate.  People who spend hours analyzing things are relying on literature printed by those of that mindset to affirm that their fear is legitimate.  These people should be smart enough to realize that they need to talk to someone and get to know them before they form an opinion about them.  Yet somehow, common sense goes out the window, and they spew this hate, and wonder why others continue to hate us as a country.

Are there religious idiots who have taken a translation and run with it as justification for their hate?  YES!! In the name of Christianity, in the name of Islam, and likely in the name of a few other beliefs.  The bottom line is, if you want to take ANY BOOK which was written in the DISTANT past, in many cases during times of turmoil, in a different language and translated several times, you will likely find translations to support whatever hate, fear, etc you want it to support.  The bible can be translated to encourage just as much hate and fear as some have translated the Quran to encourage.  Does that mean that every Christian throughout the World is mean, evil and judgemental?  No... why.. because MOST Christians have understood the bibles laws for what they are and also follow the new testament as translated as a book of love and forgiveness.  That doesn't keep the Fred Phelps and similar folks from getting the press and making Christianity look like we are a bunch of hateful fanatics.

Are there Muslims out there who hate us?  Yes.  There are also Christians out there who hate the United states.  There are Atheists like McVeigh who hate the Government too.  But not all Atheists are that way either.  Just because we are at war with the extremists and Nut Jobs of a religion who mostly stem from a specific region of the earth, how can we assume our next door neighbor, or a group of Muslims who have come together to pray in a park, then let their kids play for a couple hours are out to get us.

We did this with the Germans, the Japanese, and many other groups while we were at war with their countries.  We justify it now saying we wouldn't want a Nazi next door.  Well folks... the people we are fighting are the Nazis of the Muslim faith.  You can no more say all Muslims are Jihadists than you can say all Germans were Nazis.

If you live with this mindset, you will miss out on some friendships which can bring a richness like no other.  Unfortunately, you aren't the only one who will miss out.  Every time we fail to embrace a good person, it breaks their spirit.  Every time we assume something about someone before we get to know them, we are cheating ourselves, the person in question and possibly humanity as we continue this cycle of fear, suspicion, and exclusion.  This goes for any "group of people" you have an opinion on... whether it be Muslims, Gays, Pro-lifers, Pro-Choicers, Cowboys, City folk, Christians, Atheists, Lawyers, bankers, strippers, the homeless, Blacks, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Germans... you get the point.  Before you let yourself think... oh.. that person is ____________ so they must be _______________.  Take a moment to say hi.  You just might be surprised at who you get to know and may just make your life a bit richer.