Where Does Islam Stand?

Blue Mosque

The morning of September 12, 2001, The manager at my job held a meeting with all of our Turkish employees. I worked on campus at my University, and the school had been recruiting students from Turkey for several years.  Many of these students ended up working where I did, just for some extra cash. Our manager met with them to warn them about retaliation from fellow students, and the community after the 9/11 attacks.  He also assured them of our support at work–we knew who they really were, and not to worry.  The whole meeting worried me…I knew these guys…and obviously they were nowhere near the World Trade Center.  I knew that they were in class that tragic morning–like the rest of us–or sleeping through class–like the rest of the rest of us.  I wondered in the back of my mind if people really would equate MIDDLE EASTERN with MUSLIM and ultimately with TERRORIST.

I have grown up with friends from Saudi, Egyptian, Iranian, Turkish, Pakistani, and other backgrounds that made their family’s religious upbringing Muslim.  As far as people go, they were only as different as my Jewish, Catholic or Korean Baptist friends were to me.  Because of this, I absolutely REFUSE to believe that everyone in the Islamic world is our enemy. I want to see how far the propaganda of the Bush Administration and our emotional state (since 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars) have taken us. 

I found a poll–please take it!  I want to see more of what we think about Islam (as I’m sure the author, Tony, does too) in a post-9/11 world.  When I submitted my vote, the results I saw were quite surprising.