"Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

The United States of America's anthem, always present during the raising of our flag. Whether it is played during the award ceremony at the Olympic Games, or to honor our fallen soldiers that have given a part or all of themselves for this country, there is no greater gift that we, as a people, can offer the select few that have sacrificed under the name of the USA.

With such a powerful symbolic meaning then, should the anthem represent, if not our conducts, but our good intentions? Yet we have strayed, where America is the home of the conditionally free and the paranoid.

Islamophobia is simply one frame of reference through which we are channeling our misconduct, but an extremely important one that will determine the direction and potential nature of our country.

It is defined as the "dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force." To have slight apprehension when you feel threatened is a human response and is completely justified. However, when it is supported "as a political force", it's gone way too far.

Now, not everyone is America is guilty of Islamophobia, but just by looking at the next president's stance on this issue, I think it's safe to say that a majority of Americans are guilty of giving in to this fear. Donald Trump has perpetuated anti-Muslim sentiments in our media for many years before he even decided to run for presidency.

Trump has dumped all sorts of accusations on Obama since 2011, from being born in Kenya to being a Muslim. This has translated into his political stance as president, when he first proposed a ban on all Muslim immigration, but then rephrased it to a ban on all immigration from countries with a history of "terrorist activity".

When asked during the second presidential debate what he would do about Islamophobia by a Muslim woman, Trump decided to avoid the question and instead promote more Islamophobia by citing Orlando, Paris, and even 9/11.

Let's get this out of the way: the Orlando shooting wasn't terrorism from ISIS nor was it an Islamic act...it was an abomination conducted by an American citizen. Just because the shooter decides to cite ISIS during the massacre, should it mean he's a Muslim terrorist that's part of ISIS? If I bring a brick to the Great Wall of China and drop it there, did I help build the wall?

I can go on about how his administration is pushing this fear further, but I don't want to make this even more lengthy than it already is. Anyways, no matter how you look at it, even if you don't like saying that Trump is anti-Muslim, he's at least fine with treating themdifferently.

America seems to want to be more accepting and truly embrace the idea of freedom. With gay marriage and sexual identity being more varied and accepted than ever, we are trending to a more open minded and accepting culture. But Islamophobia stands in stark contrast of this trend and is no different in concept.

How much can we even blame Muslims for hurting our country...given that 9/11 was conducted by Osama Bin Laden. It was an act of war, not an act of religion.

Do we disagree with their religious practices? Who the hell cares! As long as they hold the Constitution in higher regard, we have no business to involve in their practices.

The argument toward this would most likely be, "but, but... they have Sharia law."

Well, to live outside of steel bars in America, Muslims have to hold the Constitution in higher regard than their religious law. There is no doubt that Sharia law contains moral deprivations, but even our beloved bible contains monstrous death penalties and godly massacres that could be interpreted as extremely dangerous when taken literally. Do you know why we decide not to stone to death children that are disobedient and stubborn(actually in the original version of the bible)? Education: we know better.

For those Muslims that take the Sharia law too literally, they simply don't have enough education to think for themselves. This applies to all religions: when there's a time of immaturity and stupidity, religion is law. When religious countries become more developed, they tend to become more educated and actually analyze the religious text. For Americans, we provide enough education in our schools where religious individuals are able to take the next step and determine the utter nonsense from the valuable principles. American Muslim families are not the only demographic that sometimes favors religion over fact. As a result of the crusading of White Christian America, evolution is still not taught in some schools since it "conflicts" with Bible text.

No, American Muslims are not the terrorists here...they don't infringe on their own rights and judge themselves as incompetent people.

The truth is, America isn't as great as before. Time are changing, but people are stubborn. Borders are becoming less defined, resources are being shared, and businesses are restructuring multi-nationally. Instead of perceiving how the world is developing, people get angry that America is losing power to other countries that are catching up. They want to halt the natural process of growth, and Trump is our answer.

In order to release all of this anger, people must channel it into blame. What better way to take focus off the real issues than for the government to fortify Islamophobia.

Phobia- An extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.

Hope we get rational real soon.