Saturday, February 04, 2006
Dear Jerome
we all know that there are another kind of people in the West, who have moderate attitude from "others"
and I put your email , to let you all know that I am not biased
we respect the one who respects us, and who likes to share making peace on Earth ,instead of violence and hatred..
all my best
faiza
***************************************
Hey, Majid!
I'm writing to tell you that, although I was born a Christian (I grew up Catholic, to be specific), I was very offended by the "cartoons", or caricatures as I prefer to call them, of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him).
I appreciate the effort you have taken to tell your feelings to the government of Denmark and also to organize others to express their feelings.
You might wonder, how can I be offended if I am not a Muslim?
One of the things my mother taught me was never to make fun of the faith of other people, no matter how different their beliefs are from yours. People's beliefs are very close to their concept of their own identity, and when you attack their beliefs, it is almost as if you are attacking the very core of their being.
I have to admit I went on a website to see the cartoons for myself--not that I didn't trust you that they were offensive. I wanted to see for myself, so I could not be accused of judging something that I myself had not seen or witnessed. When I saw the caricature of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), the one that showed his turban as if it were a bomb, I realized the drawing was worse than I thought from your description. The people who drew the caricature wanted people to express the message that not only the founder of Islam, but all Muslims, were terrorists!
That made me so angry, because I know it's not true. I imagined all the Muslims in the world, like you and the rest of your family, who are trying to use the principles of Islam in their lives to make the world a better place, being called "terrorists". No, they're not! They aren't the ones who are recklessly taking innocent lives to further their beliefs. It is the artists and the newspapers that published these caricatures who are recklessly making fun of the innocent Muslims and their beliefs; they are the ones who acting as the verbal equivalent of terrorists.
I may be a Christian, but on this issue I stand with the Muslims who are protesting against this "hate speech" their religion, and against those who would hide behind the principle of "freedom of speech" or "freedom of the press" to allow it to continue.
What hurts you as a Muslim, hurts me as a Christian, because you and I are equal--in the eyes of God or Allah. I'm very proud of you for taking such a stand, and I will tell the Danish government that the number of people that have offended now stands as 1.5 billion and one.
As-salaam 'aleikum.
Jerome
we all know that there are another kind of people in the West, who have moderate attitude from "others"
and I put your email , to let you all know that I am not biased
we respect the one who respects us, and who likes to share making peace on Earth ,instead of violence and hatred..
all my best
faiza
***************************************
Hey, Majid!
I'm writing to tell you that, although I was born a Christian (I grew up Catholic, to be specific), I was very offended by the "cartoons", or caricatures as I prefer to call them, of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him).
I appreciate the effort you have taken to tell your feelings to the government of Denmark and also to organize others to express their feelings.
You might wonder, how can I be offended if I am not a Muslim?
One of the things my mother taught me was never to make fun of the faith of other people, no matter how different their beliefs are from yours. People's beliefs are very close to their concept of their own identity, and when you attack their beliefs, it is almost as if you are attacking the very core of their being.
I have to admit I went on a website to see the cartoons for myself--not that I didn't trust you that they were offensive. I wanted to see for myself, so I could not be accused of judging something that I myself had not seen or witnessed. When I saw the caricature of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), the one that showed his turban as if it were a bomb, I realized the drawing was worse than I thought from your description. The people who drew the caricature wanted people to express the message that not only the founder of Islam, but all Muslims, were terrorists!
That made me so angry, because I know it's not true. I imagined all the Muslims in the world, like you and the rest of your family, who are trying to use the principles of Islam in their lives to make the world a better place, being called "terrorists". No, they're not! They aren't the ones who are recklessly taking innocent lives to further their beliefs. It is the artists and the newspapers that published these caricatures who are recklessly making fun of the innocent Muslims and their beliefs; they are the ones who acting as the verbal equivalent of terrorists.
I may be a Christian, but on this issue I stand with the Muslims who are protesting against this "hate speech" their religion, and against those who would hide behind the principle of "freedom of speech" or "freedom of the press" to allow it to continue.
What hurts you as a Muslim, hurts me as a Christian, because you and I are equal--in the eyes of God or Allah. I'm very proud of you for taking such a stand, and I will tell the Danish government that the number of people that have offended now stands as 1.5 billion and one.
As-salaam 'aleikum.
Jerome
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 4:18 PM 
