Replies (2)

• @DeanFarrell@mstdn.plus 2026-10-28 23:56

  @QasimRashid@mastodon.social Muslims don't scare me, but Ben Shapiro's eyebrows do.

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• @elight@tenforward.social 2026-10-28 23:19

  @QasimRashid@mastodon.social I did know a fella. I spent some real time sitting and chatting with him. The more "foreign" someone appears, the more curious I am. I try hard to approach them with that curiosity held honestly and respectfully. I was grateful he seemed to receive me that way. As I knew him then, he held his Islam *fiercely*. Not being an expert in the religion, I picked up on what I would call a sizable conservative streak, as if I were talking to an evangelical Christian but clearly of a different belief system. He was, as some people described him, "intense". He was also massively overwhelmed by life: a young father, sole earner, afraid for his livelihood. He made some people, who we both knew, uncomfortable. As far as I could tell, at least one of those uncomfortable people, if not more of them, seemed to conflate "intense" and "Islam" and "massively overwhelmed with many responsibility", leading to what I saw as xenophobia. I'd be lying if I claimed that I didn't absorb at least a little of that from those people. I tried to remain aware of it. This man was *deeply* ethical. He was clearly struggling. Yet he was struggling to do right by his family, Allah, and those around them (maybe Allah came first but I can't speak from certainty and feel it important to indicate thus). He was generous enough to teach me a little of his Islam in the time we had. Overall, he was a good man and, unfairly, misunderstood by peers. Sadly, seems to be a pattern in Western culture. Not kidding at all when I say this: basic cultural anthropology should be mandatory learning in public education everywhere. If not for a very thorough introduction in undergrad, I suspect my mind would be similarly closed like most Americans. Please keep doing what you're doing.

  Open ##5303126