For the past three months I have been stuck smack in the middle of two different worlds. I am teaching at a school I LOVE with a group of children that are slowly but surely growing on me. On the other hand, I am surrounded by friends and family who are either evangelical Christian or specifically Muslim-hating.
What do these two things have in common? You may remember me mentioning that the school I work in is about 70% Muslim. I will freely admit that this has been a bit of a culture shock and has taken some getting used to. What has been hard for me? The reaction I get when I tell people about my school. I guarantee I wouldn't get the same looks and comments if I told people I work in a Catholic school or even a school whose children are mostly Jewish.
I am saddened by the comments I get because, let's face it, they show that we (Americans) are still afraid of our Muslim population. We have a huge stereotype that blocks us from getting to know families who are different from us. Apparently we still aren't grown up enough to see that "a person's a person, no matter how small" as Horton the elephant tells us in "Horton Hears a Who." Come on, people! Is this really how we want to raise our children?
This tirade was sparked by an email going around that supposedly supports our troops. It talks about how dangerous Muslims are and how they are not to be trusted. It talks about how the 9-11 attackers were those of Muslim faith. Let me ask you this? How many people have been killed in the name of Christianity? How about Jews who kill to please God? Interesting that I'm not supposed to run around fearing Christians or Jews, yet I AM supposed to fear for my life when a Muslim walks into the room.
Here are some terrible things I've heard from people who supposedly care about me. Some are things I've been told directly, others are comments that come in the form of hateful emails that are so "Christian" it makes me sick.
1. My students have no interest in education. Those who do may possibly be learning to build bombs to use against "us." (No matter that they were mostly born right here in the U.S.A. and are as much a citizen as I am.)
2. My students are lazy and unclean. (Sure, my students ARE lazy. They are 5th and 6th graders. I call my own daughters lazy all the time. It's my job as a teacher to break through that natural inclination and get them motivated.)
3. My students are disrespectful. (Yep, I have moments where I need to use my classroom management skills. To be honest, though, my classes are really easy to deal with.)
4. The parents of my students have no respect for me because I am a white female. (This one is absolutely hilarious to me. I have never been treated so well by parents. If anything, they are frustrating because they want their children to get all As and can't figure out how we can get there. This is partial my fault and I will be correcting it this week. Oh, my boss is a Muslim man and is FANTASTIC! I couldn't ask for a more caring administration.)
5. My students think about praying to their God all day and devise plans to attack Americans. (Again, let me point out that my students ARE American. They cried when we did a unit on the 9-11 terrorist attacks. They are excited to learn AMERICAN history. Aren't I the lucky one who gets to teach them that? I am truly blessed that, because many of their parents have immigrated here, I am teaching a subject in which I really am the expert. Let me tell you, the students may take a break in the day to pray, but they have plenty of other interests as well. They LOVE sports.)
I can't tell you how many other ridiculous comments I've heard since I've started working at my school. I've heard them all before and ignored them, but I can no longer do that. So, here's what I really have to say: To all the Christians that judge a group of people before getting to know them- PLEASE get off your high horse. You know NOTHING about the people under the head coverings or beards you are so afraid of. YOU are judgmental and cowardly for the way you are spreading hatred about a group of people you've never even met. Jesus would NOT appreciate you doing this in his name.
How many Christians do stupid things every day? Should we hate all of you because of their terrible mistakes? That guy and his church that picket at soldiers' funerals sure would make me embarrassed to be a Christian if that were the case. Do you remember David Berkowitz, otherwise known as the Son of Sam? He claimed to be a born again Christian. Jefferey Dahmer killed and ate more than 20 young men. He was raised by a Fundamental Christian man who wrote articles for newspapers and magazines about his religion. John Wayne Gacy was Catholic. Yep, I'm pretty convinced that Christians are just as terrifying.
I think, if you are reading this with an open mind, you can see what I'm trying to say here. Stop judging people simply by the fact that they are Muslim. Or Jewish, or Mormon, or Atheist for that matter. You don't know that person at all. You don't know his or her beliefs. You only know what you THINK you understand about the religion. Do you agree with every single concept taught by your church? I know I didn't when I was going. I would hate for someone to judge me on some of the things our pastors taught. Just think about it; that's all I ask.
In the Dixie Chicks song, "I'm Not Ready to Make Nice" the singer is refusing to apologize for comments she made regarding the war in Iraq. She made it quite clear, in an interview, that she disagrees with the war. Whether I agree with her comments or not is not the issue. I DO agree with this lyric in the song, though: "It's a sad, sad story when a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger." THAT is exactly what we do when we forward those messages that hate Muslims or make comments about their lifestyle.
I want to love my students and feel part of their lives just the same way I did with my student teaching class last year. I will be honest; at first it was hard. I didn't understand some of the culture and their way of doing things. It's still hard to live up to the standard some of the parents have set for both their child and for me, the teacher. At least they HAVE standards, though. I would much rather work in an environment that challenges me to reach even higher than in a school where parents didn't care at all. So, PLEASE, I beg of you, friends, let me enjoy my students. Keep your opinions about Muslims to yourself. I happen to think my kids are pretty cool!
14 comments:
I'm so glad you wrote this! I agree with you 100000%!!!! This is my favorite post! Love it love it love it! This Christianity fad is getting old real quick! And yes, Christians are the most judgmental people I have EVER met.
You mean you don't have a bomb making course at your school?
How frustrating that you have to deal with such ignorant opinions?
And those sorts of judgments are why people then say that Christians are unkind and hateful. SIGH.
I love that song, btw.
It does still amaze me how in this day and time, in a country that boasts of its tolerance, so many of its people make such intolerant and frankly racist comments. And furthermore, often those comments are deemed acceptable!
Islam is not a dirty word, and its followers, for the most part, want the same things as anyone else: a happy and fulfilling life.
I refer to myself as a Christian but my view of God would be considered very unchristian. I refuse to believe that he expects us to colour every one with the same brush. Blaming all Muslims for the acts a a small portion is so beyond ridiculous there are no words!! I also do not think that God is likely to judge them or send muslims to hell just because they believe a little differently than us. I actually have a very liberal opinion of just who will get to go to heaven :) Good for you for getting this off your chest.
I understand where you're coming from. I find myself trying to put things in perspective a lot, if I can manage to get the words past my fury, that is, when people say outrageous things. You're making a difference in children's lives. Whether they are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Martian should hardly matter. They all want to get ahead. A world history course should put matters into focus for all the judgmental types.
Firstly - anonymous you are a cowardly twit. Only ignorance makes you too afraid to voice your true feelings openly
Secondly - Karen, good on you for speaking up about what you believe in.
Thirdly - no child should ever be judged by the colour of their skin, their nationality, their religion or their parents.
Every child has exactly the same needs besides the basics of food and shelter - to be loved, to be treated fairly, to be safe, to be educated, to be free.
Anything else is a crime against humanity.
At the same time everyone has the right to an opinion - I just don't have to agree with them all.
Wow, thank you for the support everyone. I was truly hesitant to post this until it was Pour Your Heart Out Day, which is a blog hop where people write about something they need to get off their chest.
Mira and Shell, Yes Christians CAN be judgmental. I keep trying to remember that there are many who are not, though, as we saw through the comments here. My mom is a great reminder of that, too. I'm glad for that! The Christians who ARE, though, are the ones who drove me away from the church. That makes me sad in many ways.
Jackie, you are so right that the comments seem to be perfectly acceptable. I can't understand that part. Those emails keep going around and around and around, and it just never stops. It's time someone stand up and say "enough." Hopefully I have done that in my small way.
Stephanie, you and I would get along well! I actually share your beliefs but was told by more than one church that I am (or was not) a true Christian. Eventually rather than argue I stopped going to church. I'm still working on what I believe five years later.
Anne, maybe I should post my World History lessons here after I present them in my classes. That's a great point that with some knowledge of World history people would have more open eyes when it comes to religion. It's funny, when I started teaching World History at the beginning of this school year I was terrified. 60% of the standards cover religion, and I REALLY didn't want to get into it with 6th graders. They have great questions, though, and just accept that what people believed is only a part of the story.
Fi, that is true. We don't all have to agree with an opinion. My big problem is how the emails that go around present it as FACT that Muslims are scary and not to be trusted. I agree with you that we are all looking for the same thing as humans. The reason I wrote this post is because I felt I was holding back due to some subconscious fear. Surely, as soon as I got this written I was able to open up to my students more. I love them and think they are great kids. I don't care what anyone else thinks. I can't WAIT to get the class pictures we took yesterday so I can proudly display them. If anyone thinks I've "crossed over to the dark side," so be it! And I promise we don't have a bomb building class on campus. That's down the street at the rec center. ;-0)
Fi... I know who the "cowardly twit" is and it's my husband! His post was meant as a joke he just didn't feel like signing in. We are very sarcastic people and have known Karen for a while now... This is just how we talk. I'm sorry if his comment offended you. I thought it very humorous that you called him that and will have to tell him when he gets home so he can laugh at himself too. I even warned him that his post will be received the wrong way.... Aaahhh... men.
Wow! Great post! It's terrible how ignorant people can be. I think so many Christians have it wrong. How will we ever show the love of Jesus with hate? It's not possible. DO you think Jesus would have acted like that? NO! SO sad people hide behind their faith when they judge others.
There is no condemnation in Christ. No matter who you are!
Adrienne, you are so right that the love of Christ will never be shown through hatred. It just doesn't make sense. They are two opposite sides of the coin.
Karen - tell Mira (if she doesn't read this herself) that I live with a houseful of men and can fully understand their warped sense of humour.
I wasn't offended myself by his comment but was upset for you - but being that it was said only in poor humour - perhaps I can get off my high horse :-)
No worries Fi. It's definitely hard to read tone in print. I wish someone would invent some kind of tone button to insert into our writing without using those silly emoticons.
Mira and her husband are my best friends, so only they can get away with goofy humor like that. ;-0) Oh, and I suppose I would allow it from my husband, too.
Have a great day!
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