The top three trending hashtags on Twitter are “#SourcesHaveConfirmed,” “#OptOutside,” and “#debatenight.” I still, to this moment, do not know what the first two hashtags are, however, people are considered to be living under a rock if they don’t know what “debatenight” is. This presidential election’s candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are on complete opposite sides of the political spectrum, making presidential debates very interesting. As part of the “future of America” generation, I try to stay as informed as possible as to what’s going on in the world; however, the ridiculous antics of Trump make it somewhat difficult to want to be informed.
In school, we’re currently learning about the religion of Islam, and the empire that it united. We learned the beautiful customs and practices of the religion, and how the primary Muslim holy text, the Quran, protects the rights of women and the non-islamic community. We learned the things about the Islamic religion that get lost these days, due to news of terrorist organizations that call themselves Muslim. Unfortunately, not everyone who should be informed of the things I learned in school about Islam is informed. People like Donald Trump, who could possibly have the power to make change and affect the way our country works, are not informed of the difference between ISIS and being Muslim.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (I.S.I.S.) is a terrorist group that has been active since 1999. In more current years, they have been known for sending governments of countries in the United Nations videos of beheadings, as well as causing terror to countries around the world in other ways. I.S.I.S. often affiliates themselves with religion of Islam and says that they do what they do in the name of Allah, the god of Islam. However, this is not true; the religion of Islam does not condone the mass terrorization of nations around the world. When searched in Wikipedia, I.S.I.S. comes up with a disclaimer that says “not to be confused with the Islamic Republic;” “the Islamic Republic” being countries ruled by Islamic law. This is something that many people, including presidential candidate Donald Trump, need to realize. This religion that has been around for over a thousand years does not follow the same terrorizing beliefs and practices as I.S.I.S.
In an interview, Trump said he would have “absolutely no choice” but to close down mosques, a statement that proves unbelievable to most people. A small percentage of people who identify as being Muslim, 0.1 percent according to President Obama, use the teachings of Islam to (falsely) justify the terror they cause in the world. Despite the fact that 99.9 percent of all Muslim people are not terrorists, Trump still wants to end public practices of Islam, persecuting the religion. Upon hearing of Trump’s intentions of closing mosques, I was infuriated. It seemed unfathomable to me; how could someone just take away the religious rights of so many people. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S.A. gives religious rights to all citizens of the country. That is not something that Donald Trump can just take away. People say “America, the free and the brave,” but shutting down houses of worship does not make America free, and it certainly does not make administrations brave.
On social media platforms, people often compare Donald Trump to German dictator, Adolf Hitler. While this is a very severe accusation to make, and while Trump is very unlikely to cause the terror that Hitler caused, they both have/had persecutory beliefs against certain religions/cultures. Many believe somebody like Trump is not fit to run our country, however, many people are also unsure if Clinton is fit to run our country either, considering issues like the controversy surrounding her emails. When the election is brought up, many of my fellow teens joke around saying “well I’m moving to Canada” and “Canada here I come!” While these people may not be serious, the future of our country has become a somewhat touchy subject thanks to the 2016 presidential election and its candidates. I, as well as many other teenage Americans, hope that after the election, the country will be able to come together and move forward so in future elections we learn from the mistakes of this cycle so we can vote for someone who will represent our country in a way that will make citizens feel proud.
