Some Thoughts on Stereotypes

This morning I finished up a piece about the Muslim stereotypes for school, but since I really liked how it turned out I thought I would post it on here:

We all know the stereotypes, the rumors, and the mistreatment. Apparently, at this time, it’s easier for the country to believe that Muslims are radical terrorists than confront that perhaps these prejudices and beliefs aren’t grounded in the truth that non-Muslims think. I speak on this subject with great passion because I know firsthand what a Muslim culture feels like: I spent three weeks in one while in Egypt. And when I returned home to hear the prejudice and the unfair accusations it began to bother me on a much more personal level.
As I’m sure most people will say when returning from a major trip, this journey changed my life. And this is true in more ways than one: it altered the way I see religions and cultures, and the way I see myself.

One of the most important things I learned was my newfound appreciation for cultures that are different from my own. I grew up in a small town with very little, actually almost no diversity. But from the first moment I arrived in Cairo I was exposed to a whole new world. The majority of the individuals I saw were dressed a fashion completely foreign to me, and I looked nothing like them. For once in my life, I was the one that was standing out from those around me. At first it just felt strange, but then I started to put myself in these strangers shoes.

The women were covered from head to toe, and their general demeanor was more reserved than here in the United States. To fit in and show respect to the culture we were instr

ucted to dress conservatively, which felt strange at first, but I began to appreciate it more and more as the trip went on. When I looked in mirrors or in windows as I walked the streets of Cairo, I noticed my hair, my face, or my smile. I was more confident in myself and liked the reflections that I saw. But that was only how the view of myself changed. I believe a larger scale to measure my growth, is the view of more than that. I learned the basic Muslim beliefs when I was still in grade school, along with Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and other world religions. Yet I didn’t feel that I had really learned much about the religions because we stuck to

sheer fact. Meeting the individuals that hold the Muslim convictions was a different story entirely, and gave me appreciation for other religions that I had never before possessed. While in the city of Cairo I heard the call to prayer at the designated times of day and could see individuals gather together to pray. This image sticks with me because it allowed me to connect my own religious beliefs with the beliefs of complete strangers. The idea of community in religion resonated with me and allowed me to see the Muslims as other followers of God, instead of just “different from me.” I had never before felt a prejudice against a Muslim, but at the same time I had certainly never embraced the religion of Islam or bothered to learn about it.

I really think that this is the key: simply learning about the religion from accurate sources rather than listening to the hearsay that surrounds it. The Muslim people believe in God, just as the Christians do here. They believe in prayer and community, which is resonated in religions in the United States as well. They believe in non-violence, in love, and in family. So, what’s harder for me to now understand is why people put such hatred on Muslims and Muslim-Americans. While their religious beliefs may differ from our own, that does not, to me, warrant the treatment they receive.