I thought Powell's most powerful statements addressed how we often react or respond to Muslims in America. To me it's been evident in the fear of conservatives who say Obama's a Muslim. He's not, but why should it matter?
Do Fundamentalist Christians (the people I most often hear spouting this rumor) recognize a bias within themselves and realize that Fundamentalists of other faiths have similar biases? Do you fear that which you understand the least, that which you deeply fear you most resemble? I wish someone could enlighten me.
As Powell says, "Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be President?"
The story of the fallen Muslim-American soldier, with a Purple Heart listing and an Islamic Cresent on his grave, was especially poignant.
"We have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way."
- Colin Powell
I couldn't agree more. We all know people who carry a negative opinion against all Muslims, not just radical Fundamentalists. Those who sneer or snicker when they see a woman wearing a hijab (headscarf) in the grocery store.
None of us are perfect. I've obviously made a statement that may be seen as being negative toward far-right Christians. But, like Moderate Muslims, I see problems with the way the Fundamentalists of my faith carry the message.
As a Christian, called to respond to God and neighbor with a love that triumphs fear, it bothers me when my brothers and sisters in faith stereotype people of other regions, from Islam to Buddhism to Judiasm to Rastafarianism. It's divisve. It's unjust. It's un-Christian. It's simply not right.
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