Some Muslims wanted us to fear Islam. I guess that worked.
Some politicians wanted you to think that's what the Muslims wanted. I guess that worked.
I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
71–80 of 139 posts
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting that you think "look at you funny" and "called me a terrorist" are equivalent.
The latter was said by a child, so it's not even worth talking about. The mother acted wrongly, not the child. But lets twist it, only without the masquerade: Imagine 'Ela' is on holiday in the Near East and wears a tank top. Don't you think that people would 'look funny at her'? She also might get molested for not being dressed properly. Local women even get stoned for that.
So your baseline for acceptable behaviour is somewhere that women get stoned for wearing a tank top? You don't want to aim just a little higher?
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
The latter was said by a child, so it's not even worth talking about. The mother acted wrongly, not the child. But lets twist it, only without the masquerade: Imagine 'Ela' is on holiday in the Near East and wears a tank top. Don't you think that people would 'look funny at her'? She also might get molested for not being dressed properly. Local women even get stoned for that.
> The latter was said by a child, so it's not even worth talking about. The mother acted wrongly, not the child. Chances are the kid's asking the question because the parent or another adult equates a head scarf with terrorism. > But lets twist it, only without the masquerade: Imagine 'Ela' is on holiday in the Near East and wears a tank top. Don't you think that people would 'look funny at her'? She also might get m…
> Chances are the kid's asking the question because the parent or another adult equates a head scarf with terrorism.
So either the parents or even the kid itself is brainwashed by poorly spinned U.S. TV.
> NONE OF WHICH IS THE LEAST FUCKING BIT OKAY, EITHER!
Ofc, stop screaming, I didn't said it was.
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm an atheist, but it's quite clear that many of my religious friends can no more easily change their religion than their ethnicity - particularly for reasons as absurd as other people holding unreasonable prejudices.
I suspect this may just be a case of lack of religious competition in the area your friends live and work in. I grew up in Utah, so of course few people changed their religions, but Mormonism is fairly successful at converting people outside Utah. They do so best by establishing communities and inviting others to join their fun activities. Sure, in America most conversions are just to a different denomination of "Chr…
44%? That sounds extremely high to me. What sorts of explanation is offered for that?
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting that you think "look at you funny" and "called me a terrorist" are equivalent.
I wonder what they would do in one of those countries that attacks and kills people at embassies or sends jihadists off to crash planes into buildings. Probably a little worse than look at you funny or call you a name.
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#76Total western white-male stereotype-infused ignorance here but... Perhaps people avoid muslim women because we don't want them to get in to trouble. I'm surprised to see women dressed like that out in public on their own, because I've been led to believe they need male escorts, and assume that one might be around. if I make eye-contact, I might be contributing to an honor-killing, or perhaps some acid-splashed on her…
Who led you to believe that? Many American-Muslim women wear a hijab by choice and are very friendly/social people who would be glad to interact with others. There is a difference between culture and religion. A person who practices Islam in America might have entirely different cultural customs than a person who practices Islam in Afghanistan. (i. e. male escorts, eye contact, etc) Please don't rely on FUD to inform…
To the extent they're in the US, they may have been westernized to some extent, and yes culture and religion can be separated, but again, my understanding of the culture is that women are not as free/liberated/equal as men.
Posted elsewhere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing_in_the_United_Sta...
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I were a muslim girl getting discriminated against for wearing a hijab, I'd stop wearing the hijab. So you would, I guess, also suggest that Sikhs should stop wearing turbans, Jews should stop wearing a kippah, nuns should stop wearing habits, pagans should stop wearing pentangles, etc. Not only is your suggestion frankly both offensive and pretty idiotic, but the world it would lead to would have even more discri…
Excellent point. But "if the result of happiness_from_identification_with_current_religion + happiness_from_how_people_make_me_feel" is negative, maybe a) you are unhappy, b) it's not an untractable problem because c) there is something you can change in the equation, and there is something you can't change. You know the saying - you can't change the others, only yourself.
I'm not sure I agree with that saying. There would seem to be overwhelming evidence against it for one thing.
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#78Total western white-male stereotype-infused ignorance here but... Perhaps people avoid muslim women because we don't want them to get in to trouble. I'm surprised to see women dressed like that out in public on their own, because I've been led to believe they need male escorts, and assume that one might be around. if I make eye-contact, I might be contributing to an honor-killing, or perhaps some acid-splashed on her…
It is pretty easy to get punched by a white guy by talking to a girl in a bar in the US, where there will never be a religious Muslim.
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#79Not being given looks by people passing by is exactly the reaction headscarves, burqas and other similar garments are supposed to produce. They represent chastity and modesty, and showing off your bodily features definitely doesn't fall into those categories. The concept of sending a message to people by fashion is very simple actually, and I personally think that reacting to such a message does not represent ignorance. Take the scarf off and let your face and hair be visible - people will look at you. Cover yourself in wraps - people will turn their looks away, and that is exactly the intended effect. It might seem strange to a white girl in a western society, but that doesn't change the fact.
As far as terrorism reference goes, that's a perfect example of generalization, another thing the whole humanity exercises daily simply because that is the way our reasoning works. Unfortunate it might be, but people generalize everywhere and about everything, and especially so when they are frightened.
Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some of us have walked in the others' shoes, at least in this limited case of discrimination based solely on clothing. Guess what? Humans discriminate on clothing! You can drum up the social justice network and try to remove this neural programming without drugs, good luck with that. You can try and fight it, again, sincerely, good luck, I agree that clothing is irrelevant when judging other people, but I don't think…
Terrible analogy. People aren't discriminating because they think hijabs are unfashionable. They're discriminating because they correctly interpret the hijab as a religious marker. Did you notice that your advice basically amounts to "do your best to look like a straight, white, middle-class Christian"? And that you are basically blaming the victim? Both strike me as terrible advice.
How about we just look like people, not religious entities? Never understood why people like wearing symbols of oppression.