Many people who know me personally know that I am adamantly outspoken against all forms of bigotry. As many of my friends would attest, I frequently talk about the need for the public at large to do more to confront evils such as: racism, homophobia, sexism, and anti-Semitism, and for individuals to not allow ignorant or malicious slurs against others to go without reproach.
For someone who is so outspoken about the need to combat hate, you think I would live by my own word, but recently, I failed to do just that. When confronted with an instance of an individual spouting grossly Islamophobic views, I did nothing but stand, nod and smile at his statements.
One statement struck me in particular, the charge that, “Islam is an evil faith, there is just something about it...the way they treat non-Muslims is not OK.”
I did not say anything in response to this comment, prompting the man to say, “I know you probably don’t want to say much, but I don’t hold back, life is too short for me not to say what I really feel.”
Indeed, life is too short, but I did not tell that man what I truly felt. My particular moment with him has passed, and any potential for me to create some understanding of Islam with it. Even if I was unlikely to change this man’s views, as I have told others who reacted similarly in situations like mine, I feel that my silence in the face of his statements was complicity.
It is not like I lacked the knowledge to respond to the man’s accusations. I have studied Islam personally, taken a semester long college course on its history, worked with Islamic institutions, and count Muslims among my friends. If anything, I was in a better position than most people my age and of my background to confront this man’s statements.
I did not say anything because I wanted to avoid a fight, and because I thought it was not an appropriate time for me to offer any rebuttal. Additionally, at the time I wanted to focus on the beliefs I did share in common with this man. How many other people let these same flawed reasons get in the way of them speaking out against hateful comments directed against other groups I myself identify with.
How many people, like me, thought, “I am not here to educate about this issue, I have other things to do and would rather move on”.
I was wrong in my actions, and this article is my attempt to make something out of my recent experience. Stories like this I hope show why we still need people to speak out against intolerance in the world because hate is still alive and well.
Thankfully, as I heard shortly after my recent experience, while life is short there is always the next hour and always another day in which to do good until one’s life has run its course. We are blessed to be given opportunities to try again. All I can do now is pick myself up, learn from this encounter, and aim to live my values more fully the next time something like this occurs.
