“Islamophobia and Social Thought”, a blog posted by fellow classmate Madeline S., really stood out to me in its straight forward and honest
approach. I’m surprised on a daily basis by some of the remarks and opinions of
people that I believed were more nondiscriminatory on issues of faith. Many of
them follow and develop their opinion, solely off what they hear and see being offered
through mass media. They are being presented with only the information that makes
headlines; which in turn is hampering their ability to offer a truly informed
stance on immigration. Although some media outlets attempt to show a full picture,
that is not what is popular in the mainstream. The statement from Madeline’s
blog, ”Fear stems from a mystery, a lack of information or understanding”, is
spot on. When I have conversations with conservative peers that have a negative
perspective on the Muslim community, it is almost always due to lack of
knowledge. They do not have Muslim friends or acquaintances nor are they
interested to. The statements they offer to support their perspective are often
in the realm of, “well my friend said”, or “I saw in my newsfeed”. They are often
referencing an opinion based editorial that offers only the authors perspective.
But, because they see the article associated with an established news source,
it becomes fact to them. We need an educated public in order to see progress. It’s
important for us to seek out opportunities to give possible insight to our community
and peers; not in an attempt to ridicule or discredit, but to show other
aspects of the issue.
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