The past two days have been interesting for me. I don't usually comment huge public posts but esp not ones of a political nature. Typically it's just a drop in the bucket comment of thousands. Why bother. This day was different. We were talking. 200+ comments later boy we'd hashed a lot out. Nobody got nasty though, prickly, snarky, but no one was offended or grossly offensive.
I encountered one conversative who could go toe to toe (so to speak) with me on stats and actual data. I may have totally disagreed with her and the way to solve problems but nothing she was saying was made up. Gun control. A charged debate where relgion, race, and poltical views hit every side.
In the end it was a woman who proposed tackling gun control from the side of social change to reinvest in the American family and end our war on drugs that got me the most. (The nut shell idea being: end the "war on drugs" and use the money that we were funneling into it and return it to the communities hit the hardest. That by deciminalizing drugs and working from the public health perspective we could help stablize families. We do this and fund social investment programs and we can start treating the diease that creates gun violence with at risk youth). The debate itself aside, it was interesting to intereact with strangers who are passionate. Some were petty, some were rude, some were convincable, it's an interesting land out there. I wanted quotes but the OP deleted the whole thread and I was sad.
Moving through the day though I didn't just stick with guns. It was Islamaphobia, refugee debates, and Syrain peoples. I was hitting it all. The "Traveling Talker" armed with her bleeding heart and ability to internet search!
**Comment that got a lot of feedback** (see below)
"Many Americans have the asinine view that if you are a Muslim you are immediately a strict "3 oh clock, point to Mecca, and pray Muslim." That you secretly harbor hate toward the "infidels" and they want the radical Muslims to cut off your head. The same people will often outcry about Starbucks cups and the War on Christmas as though Jesus was a not dreg loving, poverty helping, tax paying, brown person who's parents were seeking refuge the very night of his birth.
When you feed the hate you fall right into the trap that extremist propaganda perpetuates. That the west is full of racist, uncaring bigots. From a purely tactile standpoint, allowing in refugees tramples that justification and stops breeding more terrorism by robbing the cause of its righteousness.
When you feed hate and misunderstanding you fall right into the media trap of fear baiting, agenda pushing, consumer shoveling mass bullshit.
From a humanitarian stand point and a Christian one and an American one: we're called to help the huddled masses. The children who are surrendering to cameras fearing their lives because of a war they didn't ask for.
Yesterday, a women used a photo of a dead Syrian child and said "glad a future terrorist is dead". A child who's only crime was accident of birth. Syrians aren't terrorists!!!!!
"Let the little children come to me..." That means ALL of them."
This was the sum of a lot passions. I want Americans to understand that only 1% of Muslims make up the American population and of that only 1% of them believe that there is *often* a justification for violience in the name of Islam. 1% of 1%. (14% in total believe there could at somepoint be a reason for violence. Leaving 86% the vast majority of American Muslims repulsed by the violence and in complete disagreement.)
That there is a huge difference between Syrian refugees and the process in which they enter this country and the terroist threats that hate the west. That these very extremists are over there killing Muslims too. For example the wife in the San. Bern. shooting came to America on a marriage visa, not a refugee visa.
Finally, all this talk, seeing all this hate, and hearing the statements Donald Trump made I felt that I needed to something beyond just arguing with people on the internet. I started looking into where our Islamic Centers are locally. I found one having an upcoming "open house" event. I called them and left a message asking about further events and what I could do to help spread unity in my community.
The phone call that changed my life:
He called me back. I was suprised. I figured he'd be busy and I certainly hoped he wasn't be inundated with hate messages. He thanked me profusely for the support, he told him how much it meant to him, he told me that he had recieved support from our community and was so grateful. That when those statments were made by Donald Trump he was afraid. We discussed how education can help fight the ignorance and he welcomed me greatly. This man told me to "come any time", "he'd love to be available for tours", he gave me all kinds of opportunities to connect. That spirit of welcome and his gracious words moved me deeply.
He was recently interviewed and asked what he would tell Trump, he replied: ""Please come to the center, any center, your comments are hurtful and this ignorance is hurting many people. Please come and learn about us. You will find your information is wrong."
No hatred. No mass anger. A gentlemen's plea that someone be educated. I have nothing but respect for that. If this experience taught me anything, it's to have faith in humanity. You will find love in places your differences may be uncomfortable with- but your heart will be pleased.
**STATS Source: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/07/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/