Islam is a belief system that I think has been greatly taken out of context. Often times, in our current social climate, we see members of opposing religions like Christianity focusing on the parts of Islamic scriptures that are destructive. What many people neglect to see is that like in any religion, there are positive and negative parts of the history behind it. There are beautiful parts of islamic scriptures just as there are beautiful parts of Christian and Jewish scriptures. We tend to focus only on the negative aspects of opposing beliefs because it makes feel like we are even more correct than we did before.
Especially in the United States, there is a negative connotation that comes with the use of the word/name “Muslim” it is almost a bad word in many parts of the country. Clearly this has a lot to do with the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This attack was committed by people who happened to be members of a sect of the Islamic faith, cursing anybody who committed themselves to a Quran in this country. What many people neglect, though, is that this group of muslims is a very small portion of the Muslim community, as well as a portion of the community that many muslims do not accept as true members of the faith. Misunderstand and negative propaganda against the muslim faith in the United States has caused a lot of tension between the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities, even though they have a lot more in common than they might think.
I find it very hypocritical that the Christian community harvest so much hatred toward the Muslim community for a few reasons. One of these reasons being that many Christians in the United States will hold strong to the notion that their faith is one of love and acceptance. After all, what would Jesus do? Right? With Jesus being such a prominent figure in the Christian faith, you would think that more followers of the faith would actually try to act on the teachings of Jesus more often. I often have qualms about these beliefs because many Christian people are quick to point out the dark sides of other faiths, but are not so quick to remind themselves of the skeletons of Christianity’s closet. If you bring up the Crusades, the Holocaust, or the Inquisition to a person of strong Christian faith you are likely to receive an explanation surrounding the people responsible for these happening being radicals of the faith. This is true, the people who caused these events were, in fact, radicals of the faith. Failure to realize that the same is true of radicals in the Islamic faith is where the hypocrisy lies.
I firmly believe to the key to creating a more harmonious relationship is requires willingness from all parties involved. We have to be willing to take the time to understand the beliefs of others. We have to be willing to listen to what others have to say. We have to be willing to put aside pride and prejudice. The only way that we can get along is to actually try to get along, rather than finding reasons why we do not. This sounds like it is not difficult, because it is not. The only reason that this is hard is because people cause it to be that way. Of course, as a person of little to no faith, I might make it sound easier than it is. It seems like people who do not understand the world around them are the first people to speak about why others are incorrect. That is the main opponent of harmony.
