Unexpected Discussions from Career Fair

At the Career Fair today, I was working at one of the tables and had some interesting conversations with the worker next to me and those applying for internships…

The man next to me introduced himself as a devout Catholic who was recruiting for a religious organization. After introductions, and realizing I was a Muslim, a few topics came up…

First of all, he asked me how on earth I could believe in the Qur’an that advocated “jihad” and mass murder. So, I explained what jihad really meant, what the Qur’an really said, and that just because a few extremists were acting “on behalf of religion,” Islam did not accept their behavior. He then told me that he believed the media and radio statements were true and that Muslims were horrible murderers and anti-Christianity…which, I responded that was media and not reality. The next topic was the “hatred” between Pakistan and India and if whether Afghanistan was included in the same context. To that, I gave him a super brief history of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to which he replied “Oh, so you guys are all the same.” …The next topic was how Islam oppressed women. And representing a domestic violence organization, I told him that females have been repressed in every society, not just in Islamic ones. And of course, Pres. Obama, McCain, and Palin came up. and much, much more. Needless to say, I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the three hours and felt I had given a final presentation on my life and about women, South Asia, and Islam. eek. The good part: he was no longer scared of Muslims at the end and was willing to take a class on Islam to further his knowledge!

Another short story: A man who was looking for work, came up to the stall and I told him about the organization. But, I was unable to convince him that I was born in Chicago and have lived here my entire life. He was certain that I was not from the United States…

To these two discussions, I have a few, possibly rheutorical and obvious questions/statements

Dear God, how much does media run this world?!? Has there been any change since post-9/11 ideology of Islam to now? Are people still afraid of Muslims? Why do they believe in the media so quickly? Why not take a class or read a book? How can we help stop people from making generalizations about an entire community?

At the Career Fair today, I was working at one of the tables and had some interesting conversations with the worker next to me and those applying for internships…

The man next to me introduced himself as a devout Catholic who was recruiting for a religious organization. After introductions, and realizing I was a Muslim, a few topics came up…

First of all, he asked me how on earth I could believe in the Qur’an that advocated “jihad” and mass murder. So, I explained what jihad really meant, what the Qur’an really said, and that just because a few extremists were acting “on behalf of religion,” Islam did not accept their behavior. He then told me that he believed the media and radio statements were true and that Muslims were horrible murderers and anti-Christianity…which, I responded that was media and not reality. The next topic was the “hatred” between Pakistan and India and if whether Afghanistan was included in the same context. To that, I gave him a super brief history of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to which he replied “Oh, so you guys are all the same.” …The next topic was how Islam oppressed women. And representing a domestic violence organization, I told him that females have been repressed in every society, not just in Islamic ones. And of course, Pres. Obama, McCain, and Palin came up. and much, much more. Needless to say, I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the three hours and felt I had given a final presentation on my life and about women, South Asia, and Islam. eek. The good part: he was no longer scared of Muslims at the end and was willing to take a class on Islam to further his knowledge!

Another short story: A man who was looking for work, came up to the stall and I told him about the organization. But, I was unable to convince him that I was born in Chicago and have lived here my entire life; he was certain that I was not from the United States…

To these two discussions, I have a few, possibly rhetorical and obvious questions/statements:

Dear God, how much does media run this world?!? Has there been any change since post-9/11 ideology of Islam to now? Are people still afraid of Muslims? Why do they believe in the media so quickly? Why not take a class or read a book? How can we help stop people from making generalizations about an entire community?