Over the past month, I've been very busy with doing homework and studying for midterms. But I have found time to attend a few events on campus - the College Republicans, the Diwali dinner put on by the Hindu Student Council, etc. Tonight I dropped in on a meeting after my class finished. A female student was reading poetry and sharing her opinions about her faith as a Muslim in a large room full of students, most of whom were also Muslim. During her speech, she mentioned, "I do not believe that Muslims were responsible for the 9/11/2001 attacks on the World Trade Center." Wait, what? My first reaction was to look around the room to measure the response and outrage at her comments. There was none. I was a little outraged. I consider it a well proven fact that the hijackers on the planes were Muslims. I stayed for a few more minutes to listen as she read a poem about her emotions and feelings about September 11th.
I needed to catch one of the last B trains so I left after her poem. To be fair, I have no idea how her speech concluded. Anyway, as I was riding home, I reflected on what she had said. I think many non-Muslim Americans might have been offended by the student's claim. However, I tried to put myself into her shoes. What if Christians had been blamed for the terrorist attacks? Or what about abortion clinic bombers who have all claimed to be Christian. What about the Holocaust? Hitler claimed to be a Christian. But many Christians today would claim that Hitler was not really a Christian - that he just claimed to be for political purposes and the version he practiced was really a Nazi-manipulation. And I'm sure that is how this girl at NYU feels. She takes great pride in her faith because, according to her, of its love and peace, and perhaps she feels that the 9/11 hijackers were not true Muslims in their faith and actions -- only using the affiliation for al quaeda's own purposes. I had never considered this possibility before. Perhaps this is the truth, or perhaps this girl is completely wrong. Regardless, I now have a deeper understanding of how American Muslims might feel about 9/11. This is one good reason to try to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before criticizing them. It helps you better understand where they are coming from. (The other reason is that if they are angry after you criticize them, at least they will be 1 mile away and barefoot!)
Friday, October 27, 2006
Muslims not responsible for 9/11 attacks?
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2 comments:
"This is one good reason to try to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before criticizing them."---this sentence can become my motto in the following month. Also, I agree to the other reason too. It's funny but true :P
This girl is lucky. I wonder how would she do if someone gets really mad with her. It would also be interesting to see someone stands out and debate with her. I like your thinking about Hitler. It's always nice to put ourselves in others' shoes.
I think if only some people in a group have made some irretrivable and unexcused huge mistakes, we should not negate the whole group or consider they are alike. We have to admit that in every religious group, there are people who have faith and obey all the rules heart and soul while there are also people who only have faith in their minds but not their heart. I think the girl said she didn't believe that Muslims were responsible for the 911 attacks because based on her faith, real Muslims wouldn't have done that--in her heart, she has already denied those terrorists to be their fellows, because those people have fallen away from their faith. In my opinion, if we need to give comments on either Muslims or Christians, we would look at them as two big groups and consider the faith and behaviors of the majority.
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