About nine years ago I had the privilege of going to a Muslim nation for the first time. Before I went, I didn’t know what to expect. I remember being very fearful because of my lack of knowledge and experience with Muslims and their culture. I grew up in a town that didn’t have any Muslims and the only exposure that I had received was from television.
In my mind, Muslims were people who hated Americans and wanted to kill us because we weren’t Muslim. Looking back on it I laugh because of my naivety, but at that time these thoughts really scared me.
I’m so glad that I was able to overcome my fears because once I was there my thinking drastically changed. I found that the Muslim people that I got to know were some of the most hospitable and kind people that I had ever met. I have been to many Muslims countries now and have developed friendships with many there. They have opened my eyes to the stereotypes that I had once bought into.
This video is my effort to try and help people think about this issue. I think we as Americans can get worked up about a group of people that often we know little about.
Here are some questions for you:
How many of you are afraid of Muslims?
How many of you have ever met a Muslim?
How many of you have had a Muslim friend?
I think we fear because we’re scared of the unknown. Have we made an effort to understand?
I would love to see Americans start dialoging with Muslims both here and abroad.
My Muslim friends in the Middle East and North Africa made me promise that I would tell my American friends that they aren’t terrorists. I hope you enjoy this video that I made.
Please leave comments if you like. You could even use this comment section below to start talking to each other.
(Please be nice and respectful)
The problem is ignorance. Most Americans know nothing about anything outside their immediate environment and only believe what they have heard about things outside. Sadly, many of our leaders manipulate this ignorance to their own benefits by propagating the natural fear of the unknown that humans have. They do this with half truths and outright lies, and because, we don’t know better, we swallow the lies and hate people without really knowing them.