What Did They Ever Do To You?

America overreacts.

   Why do we do what we do and think that it is okay? We kidnapped and enslaved Africans and then we still treated them as though they were animals after slavery was abolished. We had Jim Crow and people were lynching any black person who looked at them the wrong way.

     We terrorized the indigenous people of this land and destroyed them. The Irish were segregated and called Irish Monkeys. We created this illusion that the Chinese were the devil with opium. Perhaps it was Satan incognito? I think that this does not make sense. We placed the Japanese in camps because of Pearl Harbor.

     Racial profiling is a problem that festers in America. It never stops. Even though it seems to be gone, it is still here. I felt scared for Arabs and anyone who would appear to be an Arab to an idiot. You would think that this phase of America has ended, but it never has. With every event, we respond with hatred.

     Anyone who appeared to be Arabic was penalized. Arabs were being pulled over and arrested. People snapped and went overboard.

     Anyone who wore a turban was targeted. Sheikhs, who happen to be Hindu, were shot. Even Hindu temples were attacked. What did these people do? All faiths teach peace. It is people who teach hatred. Don't people read?

    Religious zealots protested the presence of mosques and the existence of the Quran. To me this was hypocritical. If you are afraid of Muslims taking over, what does that make you? Unless you have forgotten, Native Americans suffered because we took over land "in the name of God." 

     When television returned back to normal, the night shows were going on a tangent. David Letterman asked why someone would do this in the name of religion. My thought is, why would you do anything in the name of religion? I think that would be a form of using the deity's name in vein. People always use religion as a tool to persuade others to follow. That is how we got the ball to roll on abolishing slavery. That is how we were moved to take this land. This is how cults convince others to commit suicide.

     The media had gone into a frenzy and began abusing words such as jihad. Messages of the Quran were misconstrued. Jihad was turned into a word of fear.  

     The one thing I do not understand is how someone can go on the air and talk about something that they do not understand. All this did was spread hatred.

     I cannot understand how society turns to ignorance instead of an educated answer. More and more people turned to unreliable sources full of opinions. People turned to sources that anyone can place information into whether they are an expert or not.

     Why does everyone turn into an idiot when a tragedy occurs? Perhaps we should start having a logical conversation instead of creating scapegoats and pointing fingers. It would be less violent that way. Less people would die.

     What once seemed normal was now strange. I once used messenger chat services to meet people and chat with friends. After 9/11, perverts from India and Saudi Arabia began sending me explicit messages. I found it disgusting and frightening. Nothing was sacred anymore.

     What was around for over a thousand years was suddenly new. I never realized this until I was in college. I chose Religions of the World as one of my electives. I wanted to enhance my writing skills and broaden my creativity. This it does and it changes your perspective of the world and culture.

     I was infuriated at the college because of their manipulation. I once yelled at them. I once had a hard time talking to anyone for that matter. I had no idea what to think of what people were saying about other people's beliefs. After this course, the yelling stopped. I began to communicate with people in a serene manner.  

     I began to understand how similar faiths are. I never realized that the entire time I went to church I had been learning Judaism. I never realized how similar Judaism and Islam are. As far as I understand all faiths teach peace and love. They teach us to be kind to each other.

     Of all the extremists, they are not following that message. It does not matter whether they are Christian or Muslim. People were treating others with hatred and being judgmental. That is immoral to me because God is the only one who can judge you.

     I think that things would be different if we understood each other’s faith. Only then there will be peace. If we understood Buddhism, and I know that a majority of people do not, we would learn to let go. People need to let go and start enjoying life. People need to start minding their own business and stop being worried about what other people are doing. People need to start being responsible for their own life and not someone else's.

     I learned that with each culture there is beauty. With each faith there is beauty. Everyone has the same basic belief. Why do we abide by the rules of those who live to destroy it?

     I think of it more now. As I write this, militants are controlling Iraq and Syria. People are actually listening to these people as people listened to the Nazis. When I watch Schindler's List, I understand what is happening today.

     There is a scene where the Nazis are rummaging through the objects that the Jews hold dear. As they categorized the items I sat and wondered how people can do something like this? Why ruin people who are dedicated to what they believe in?

     Even in America, Jews were being segregated. Schools were teaching students to be anti-sematic. Why do we think that we are so superior to another person?