… in last night’s rant to point out that even though I am disgusted and disappointed at the direction our nation is headed, I’m beyond horrified at the barbarity that defines the middle east, seemingly infused into the Muslim world. It would be politically incorrect to blame Islam for what I see — the Taliban, al Queda, terrorism, the beheading of an innocent man who was there to help.
But it’s so hard, after years of this, to not look upon the people of that region as barbaric, violent, and dangerous.
Their culture is so different from ours that it’s almost impossible to understand. But that’s no excuse for the horrifying actions that a certain number of the people there who use religion to justify their barbarity. Just as with some fundamentalist Christians, there are those who interpret a religion that stands for peace into a religion that condones mass murder and terrorism.
I know very few Muslim people. The ones I have come to know are no different than anyone else. Obviously, it’s ridiculous and pointless to lump all people of a certain religion or racial group together, and I’d never do that — I certainly don’t want to be lumped together with promiscuous, bar-hopping, radical queers, as it is certainly not an accurate portrayal of my life or demeanor.
Strangely enough, my own religion, with plenty of flaws and contradictions, nevertheless has one important idea at it’s center: forgiveness. Would the leader of our church, Jesus Christ, forgive the terrorists who killed thousands one bright day in September? Would he forgive those that made innocent men kneel before them then, in the midst of screams and a video camera killed them brutally by beheading?
Perhaps. But I am human, and it’s difficult. It’s difficult to know who these people are and it’s difficult to not hate them. Very, very difficult.
