MUDFLIX – My Fellow American
I thought this video was poignant and well done, and the audio commentary is jarring to say the least. The website My Fellow American is worth checking out and includes a feature that allows you to share your own stories.
Certainly many Muslim-Americans are native born, but thinking about the immigrant population and our recent holiday put me in mind of this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:
We Americans are well aware that this is not a one-sided relationship. We are offering you a home and a haven, to be sure. However, you… are bringing us your skills, your talents, and your cultures. We are grateful to you for broadening our scope and enriching our country which consists of newcomers just like you.
If you think this video sums up the west and america, you should probably get out more.
Listening to people shouting and spouting such hatred toward people they don’t even know just because they dress differently or have a name that isn’t like theirs is chilling.
And Eleanor Roosevelt’s words, as we find with many of her insights, are words of wisdom that we should all embrace as Americans.
Under Islam as it was practiced in Al-Andaluz (Spain), Jews and Christians were Dhimmi, protected people, who were recognized as People of the Book (Scripture), and allowed to practice their religion freely. They did have to pay a tax for this protection. Later, the definition of Dhimmi was expanded to include other religions with a sacred text (Hindus, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, etc.).
Interestingly, the one religion which was never included as Dhimmi is the Baha’i, which is derived from Islam. The difference is that Islam regards Mohammed as the final prophet, and the Q’uran as the final revelation, while the Baha’i believe that revelation is ongoing, and other prophets have followed, and will follow.
I’ve always wanted to visit the Baha’i temple in Haifa, Israel; it’s beautiful. Of course, I want to visit the zillions of Buddhas in Thailand, the Taj Mahal, Florence, and lots of other beautiful places, and I still want to see a lot of Alaska (I’ve only been to an airport, and I’m told by Alaskans that it doesn’t count).
Oh, Zyxomma, your Alaska-airport comment made me smile! I’ve only known New York via Kennedy International Airport (and that during a looooooooong stop-over while the traffic controllers were on strike)… someday, someday, I’ll REALLY visit your city.
The body of your comment, of course, was about a history of religious tolerance in Islam… except for when it comes to the Baha’i faith. I have many friends who are Baha’i or were raised that way. It seems a very beautiful belief to me; like all religions, there’s something worth taking away even if you are a non-believer. How ironic that Baha’i, which emphasizes racial and religious harmony, would be reviled by Islam.
I have quite a few Muslim families in my school. I can’t understand how you can possibly look at a five-year-old wearing a scarf on her head and be afraid.
There are evil Muslims, just as there are evil people in any group, but to view all people of the Islamic faith as evil is…well, completely and utterly absurd.
Personally, I would much rather live, work or socialize with a Muslim than a radical, right wing, faux Christian who hates everyone who doesn’t look like them or worship like them.
It’s playing for me but slow to load.
Yes, it was “poignant and well done”. The rhetoric being screamed, while showing our fellow Muslim American Citizens taking care of people gently BY them. I guess that since it’s not ‘politically correct’ to target blacks these days, they have to FIND a new racist venting. This time towards Muslims.
Lady ahead of me in Sam’s Club yesterday was wearing a very beautiful outfit. Lace at the bottom of her dress shining around her shoes in the undergarment hanging under. Hey, we ALL wish to look nice (well, except me in my sweats, I’m a cranky old lady & don’t care much). So WHAT does her headscarf matter to ME? It was hot out and SHE wasn’t complaining. How is her scarf hurting ME?
This is America, Home of the Brave and Land of the Free!
I agree with you. A woman who is covering up doesn’t cause me to even look twice (unless the outfit is pretty) whereas women who wear little more than a bikini to the mall tend to make me gag. And, yes I did see a woman (probably mid-late 20s) doing just that on Friday night, boy shorts style bottoms and a bikini top that was probably two sizes too small.
Some of my best friends in high school were Muslims. I was a bookworm and spent my lunches in the library and from the first few weeks of my freshman year until the end of my junior year we would sit in the far corner reading and discussing which books we thought the others would like. I knew we came from different backgrounds, most of them were from Pakistan and had only been here for a few years but it didn’t matter because we found common interests and focused on those.
I was in my junior year when 9/11 happened and while some of the other students started treating my friends differently I knew that they were just as scared (if not more so since their families were constantly harassed) as the rest of us. I didn’t understand it then and I still don’t get it now. How can we hold the actions of a few against everyone that shares a religion, race, sex or any other trait. I’ve always felt that you hold someone accountable for their own actions not for some preconceived notion of what they could do.
I’d love to watch it, but all I see is a black square… 🙁
Hmmm. Seems to be working for me, but here’s the link to the video on YouTube. Better?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjm0uk2JO58