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Indybay Feature

OPINION

by RUCHI AHUJA (ruchisjournal2003 [at] yahoo.com)
As America becomes more and more enveloped in crisis, it becomes more important that people stay open minded while still keeping a patriotic spirit. Many people are discriminated against for things that seem unfair, such as race, religion and disability. Racism has always been a part of American culture, especially at times of war. The media and our nation's leaders keep telling us that this is a war on terrorism, not Muslims or Afghanistan, but are people listening? Rumors fly about the homes and businesses of Muslims (whether or not they are from Afghanistan) being burned to the ground or vandalized in some way. Similar events occurred during the Gulf War and WW2.



OPINION

As America becomes more and more enveloped in crisis, it becomes more important that people stay open minded while still keeping a patriotic spirit. Many people are discriminated against for things that seem unfair, such as race, religion and disability. Racism has always been a part of American culture, especially at times of war. The media and our nation's leaders keep telling us that this is a war on terrorism, not Muslims or Afghanistan, but are people listening? Rumors fly about the homes and businesses of Muslims (whether or not they are from Afghanistan) being burned to the ground or vandalized in some way. Similar events occurred during the Gulf War and WW2.

In actuality, this is a war on the Taliban. The Taliban manipulates young people at an early age into thinking that America and other non-Muslim countries are evil. In actuality, the Quran forbids this type of violence. "God does not forbid you from showing kindness and dealing justly with people who have not fought with you about religion and have not driven you out of your homes. God loves just dealers" (Quran 60:8). Conflicts between Muslim and Christian countries have existed since the Crusades. "I'm an 18 year old, Puerto Rican Muslim. I used to be teased by a lot of Puerto Ricans just because I'm not Christian like everyone else in my school. I really want people to know that Muslim is a religion, not a race. You do not need to be an Arab to be Muslim, just like you don't need to be white to be Christian." -anonymous.

Muslims aren't the only misunderstood religious group. The most judged man in modern America is most likely the late Anton LaVey, who founded the Church of Satan in the 1960's. The religion believes hypocrisy lays in Christianity, in particular, Catholicism, and bases the religion on the flip side of Christianity. It takes the Seven Deadly Sins and turns those into what the church says are the fundamentals of human behavior. Pride is a must, as well as following their version of the golden rule: "Do unto others as they do unto you." They see one's birthday as the most important holiday of the year, as the only higher power over you is yourself. The church and their followers practice magic rituals involving Lust, Compassion, or Hate. Despite many rumors to the contrary, it is forbidden to sacrifice a baby or animal, as LaVeyan Satanists hold them in the highest respect.

"I live in a very strict Christian small town where there are almost as many churches as there are houses," says a teenage Satanist. "Everyone compares everything with God and I think they're hypocrites. They are all allowed to say what they want about their wonderful God, while the few who disagree are forbidden to open their mouths. It's very hard for me and I wish people were more open minded about religion. People judge me and jump to conclusions; they think that I'm a witch and that I worship Satan. I've actually had parents call my school and see if I could be expelled because they were afraid for their kids. I respect all and any beliefs, so shouldn't my beliefs be respected?"

Will this war draw people in America together or farther apart? Racism isn’t the only issue in America that involves bigotry. Baptist Rev. Fred Phelps is known to walk up and down the streets of Kansas with his followers with the Bible in one hand and a trademark 'GOD HATES FAGS' poster in the other. These groups strongly emphasize on "You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination"

However, not all Reverends are so close-minded. "What do you mean by 'natural'? If you say 'natural' in terms of how people love each other, then who cares if the relationship is gay or straight as long as the love can be expressed and received? That is what's natural- not being able to love is what's unnatural.”

In addition to sexuality and religion, disabilities have been misunderstood for ages, in particular, mental illness. Many people think that people with Schizophrenia are violent people, although studies show that people diagnosed with the disease who committed violent crimes had a record before they developed the disability. These people tend to avoid social situations and are less likely to be violent anyway.

An interview with Kesley McKinney, 16, of North Carolina revealed many things that go inside the mind of people with this disease. She hears voices, which she says sound like a small female child's voice, which has a shrill, demanding tone, and sometimes other voices that are quieter, equally demanding. They tell her to hurt herself and other people, and often make fun of her, which makes her antisocial and have low self-worth. When she was 14 years old, she had become tired of fighting them so she cut herself many times, stopped eating for weeks, and tried to kill her. The doctors thought she merely had depression, because she never told them about the things she saw and the voices she heard, and put her on antidepressant. This helped her, and she says she is now stronger, at least enough to fight them. As far as images, they can vary from a notebook or person who isn't really there, to blood dripping down walls and the corpses of her friends laying in hallways. She can tell when things are and aren't real most of the time, because the images have flaws like the eye color of a person she knows being wrong, or when it's really outrageous, like the blood. The last time she told someone about her condition, her best friend freaked out and didn't speak to her again, and other people thought she was just doing it for attention and was making it up.

People might try to make Kesley to tell a doctor about her situation and take pills to help, but she seems to think that she would rather live with it than take "an artificial cure" to stop her pain. She says it's a part of who she is, and doesn't think she could imagine life without the disease. She's terrified that people will think she's crazy, but have they gone through what she has?

"I believe people should withhold any grudge they have and accept anybody. Whatever used to not be normal, like homosexuality, race, and ethnicity is now normal. More and more people today are treated like minorities when they are the ones who don't allow this country to become boring. Accept them for who they are and not what they are," states Keith Carlon, 15, from Brunswick, Maine.

Thanking you
RUCHI AHUJA





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