Uthman
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When I started college, I would have told you that head coverings worn by women from Middle Eastern countries were oppressive. I would have cited instances of women being killed by their families to preserve their honor. I would have told you I was an expert on the matter. I saw it on an episode of "Law and Order: SVU."
I saw oppression as a matter of not being able to live the way I do. It seemed apparent that any woman who didn't wear jeans and T-shirts or who sported the latest hairstyle in public must be the victim of brutality. I assumed women in the Middle East had no freedoms, men treated them like property and of course, they were all terrorists because their religion told them to be.
But I don't think that way anymore.
In fall 2006, Shirien Elmasraya began writing columns for The Daily Reveille, and during her time as a columnist, I have learned more from her words and actions than from some classes I have taken in three years as a student.
When I first met her, she seemed quiet and reserved. She sat silently poised in our often noisy and boisterous newsroom. But after reading her columns, I tried to draw her into conversation about her beliefs and experiences as a woman who chooses to wear a hijab, or head covering, on a campus.
I have come to realize that most Islamic women who chose to wear a hijab aren't being oppressed; they have made a choice to participate in a deeply rooted religious and cultural practice.
Feminists in this country fought for women's right to decide - the right to chose what job they wanted, who they wanted to represent them in government or whether they want to be married. Just as women gained the right to vote in elections, they gained the right for Islamic women to wear a head scarf. No one forces them to wear a head scarf or cover their faces; it's their choice. And that choice should be respected as much as a women's right to choose if she wants to pursue a career or be a homemaker instead.
But instead of seeing this as an example of the rights and privileges women have gained in this country, many claim it's a sign of oppression and hatred.
The e-mails Elmasraya receives on a weekly basis for vocalizing her views such as why she wears a head covering are unbelievable. The attacks she faces daily on The Daily Reveille Web site are overwhelming. Many of them don't meet publication standards to be printed.
In the fall, one reader became so overt in her threats of physical harm the police had to be contacted, and the reader was a woman.
I read these comments every week, and I am appalled at the statements some make in the name of "feminism" or "Christianity."
As both a feminist and a Catholic, I find the attacks to be the exact opposite of what both feminism and Christianity stand for.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christians should hate those of other religions. In fact, it says to love your enemy. And in attacking Elmasraya for her religion on the basis that Christianity is right and Islam is wrong, many Christians ignore the idea of love and tolerance that both Jesus and Mohammad taught.
When Elmasraya wrote about how Islam is not a religion of hate that encourages acts of violence, many responded angrily and cited the 9/11 terrorist attacks. An estimated 1.4 billion people practice Islam in the world. Those who have committed horrific acts of terrorism are only a small fraction of the Islamic population.
Denouncing all Muslims based on the acts of a few would be like judging all 300 million Americans based on how Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline act or assuming all Americans are like President George W. Bush.
A constant rant directed at Elmasraya and her supporters on our Web site is that if Muslims have complaints about this country to "go back to where they came from."
Complaining about this country is as American as apple pie. This country was founded upon the principles of dissent, and the First Amendment protects the right to do so. It ensures the right to vocalize unpopular opinions and beliefs.
Telling people to move to Middle Eastern countries because they expect to receive the same rights as other citizens cuts away at this country's founding principles of democracy. The founding fathers intended for rule by the majority with protection of the minority. Telling someone to leave who wants to live in America without being the victim of persecution and discrimination is the exact opposite of the ideas this country was founded upon.
In the past two semesters, I have come to realize a lot from Elmasraya. I now realize that head scarves aren't oppression; they are a symbol of independence. I realize that the Christian way to act toward someone who is of a different religion is with love, and the most American way to act is with tolerance and understanding of someone who is different from me.
http://media.www.lsureveille.com/me...f.Islam.A.Valuable.Lesson-2836960-page2.shtml
I saw oppression as a matter of not being able to live the way I do. It seemed apparent that any woman who didn't wear jeans and T-shirts or who sported the latest hairstyle in public must be the victim of brutality. I assumed women in the Middle East had no freedoms, men treated them like property and of course, they were all terrorists because their religion told them to be.
But I don't think that way anymore.
In fall 2006, Shirien Elmasraya began writing columns for The Daily Reveille, and during her time as a columnist, I have learned more from her words and actions than from some classes I have taken in three years as a student.
When I first met her, she seemed quiet and reserved. She sat silently poised in our often noisy and boisterous newsroom. But after reading her columns, I tried to draw her into conversation about her beliefs and experiences as a woman who chooses to wear a hijab, or head covering, on a campus.
I have come to realize that most Islamic women who chose to wear a hijab aren't being oppressed; they have made a choice to participate in a deeply rooted religious and cultural practice.
Feminists in this country fought for women's right to decide - the right to chose what job they wanted, who they wanted to represent them in government or whether they want to be married. Just as women gained the right to vote in elections, they gained the right for Islamic women to wear a head scarf. No one forces them to wear a head scarf or cover their faces; it's their choice. And that choice should be respected as much as a women's right to choose if she wants to pursue a career or be a homemaker instead.
But instead of seeing this as an example of the rights and privileges women have gained in this country, many claim it's a sign of oppression and hatred.
The e-mails Elmasraya receives on a weekly basis for vocalizing her views such as why she wears a head covering are unbelievable. The attacks she faces daily on The Daily Reveille Web site are overwhelming. Many of them don't meet publication standards to be printed.
In the fall, one reader became so overt in her threats of physical harm the police had to be contacted, and the reader was a woman.
I read these comments every week, and I am appalled at the statements some make in the name of "feminism" or "Christianity."
As both a feminist and a Catholic, I find the attacks to be the exact opposite of what both feminism and Christianity stand for.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christians should hate those of other religions. In fact, it says to love your enemy. And in attacking Elmasraya for her religion on the basis that Christianity is right and Islam is wrong, many Christians ignore the idea of love and tolerance that both Jesus and Mohammad taught.
When Elmasraya wrote about how Islam is not a religion of hate that encourages acts of violence, many responded angrily and cited the 9/11 terrorist attacks. An estimated 1.4 billion people practice Islam in the world. Those who have committed horrific acts of terrorism are only a small fraction of the Islamic population.
Denouncing all Muslims based on the acts of a few would be like judging all 300 million Americans based on how Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline act or assuming all Americans are like President George W. Bush.
A constant rant directed at Elmasraya and her supporters on our Web site is that if Muslims have complaints about this country to "go back to where they came from."
Complaining about this country is as American as apple pie. This country was founded upon the principles of dissent, and the First Amendment protects the right to do so. It ensures the right to vocalize unpopular opinions and beliefs.
Telling people to move to Middle Eastern countries because they expect to receive the same rights as other citizens cuts away at this country's founding principles of democracy. The founding fathers intended for rule by the majority with protection of the minority. Telling someone to leave who wants to live in America without being the victim of persecution and discrimination is the exact opposite of the ideas this country was founded upon.
In the past two semesters, I have come to realize a lot from Elmasraya. I now realize that head scarves aren't oppression; they are a symbol of independence. I realize that the Christian way to act toward someone who is of a different religion is with love, and the most American way to act is with tolerance and understanding of someone who is different from me.
http://media.www.lsureveille.com/me...f.Islam.A.Valuable.Lesson-2836960-page2.shtml
