The recent attack in Nice, France has me remembering the attack in Paris, France from several months ago. Two of my toddler cousins live in the heart of Paris with my aunt and uncle. After the Paris attack, my uncle was almost a completely different person.
When my uncle left for work in Paris a couple years ago, he had an “Impeach Bush” bumper sticker, according to my mom. When he visited us last Christmas with my new aunt and cousins, he had a mug with Donald Trump’s name on it.
The Paris attack last year turned my uncle, the left wing enthusiast, into the most avid Trump supporter you’d ever meet. Fear can make you believe false accusations and turn you into something that you swore you would never be, but only if you let it. In the past year, less than 2 percent of shootings in America were by Muslim people. It’s not fair to believe that all people who practice Islam are automatically radical terrorists. ISIS does not reflect Islam. ISIS breaks many of the rules that Islamic people hold.
I always see so many pictures online of people vandalizing mosques, cracking eggs on people’s hijabs and calling for a total deportation of Muslim people. I don’t see people of less popular religions vandalizing churches or harassing Christians even though there are radical Christian groups too.
There are still many chapters of the Ku Klux Klan in operation, especially in southern states and metropolitan areas. Minorities are still being lynched. Westboro Baptist Church and KKK members alike, as well as Neo-Nazis, have been spotted at more than a few of Mr. Donald Trump’s rallies.
Just like the Ku Klux Klan is not an accurate representation of all Christian people, ISIS is not an accurate representation of all Islamic people. Members of the KKK clearly aren’t following the Bible as it was written, namely the "love thy neighbor part," and members of ISIS clearly aren’t practicing Islam the way it was written either.
I know events like Paris and Nice are terrifying, especially if you have family members in these places, but buying into this fear is not the solution. Unless you are ready to deport all Christian people for the KKK, or all white people for terrorizing the Native American people and stealing their land, then I don’t want to hear about how we should deport all people practicing Islam.
By hating and targeting a specific group of people and working to eliminate them from your country, you are becoming the very thing you despise.
Stand your ground. Groups like ISIS are using fear tactics to try to get under our skin. Your devotion to deporting all Muslim people is proof that you are letting fear win. Don’t let them change you or your views. Keep yourself educated on what’s really happening in the world and put these events into perspective. Don’t let them win. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
The spread of violence in the world is reaching an epidemic level. Please, instead of hating all Islamic people for a small group of them, encourage love instead. This is even harder and scarier for them than it is for the rest of us. We cannot keep trying to fight hate with hate. It clearly isn’t working.
