I belive O'Grady A4 Rihla 23

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<span><span>David O’Grady

<span> 3/20/12

<span> World History



<span> I believe in religious tolerance and the pursuit of peace between different religions. I am a Mexican Irish Muslim that has always tried to fit in with some group of people that would accept me. For so long I have heard many stereotypes and criticism of different religions, and of the people who follow them. An example I have heard time and time again is that every Muslim is a terrorist. Another example of Muslim stereotypes is that all Muslims look like Osama Bin Laden. So many people blind themselves to the fact that 1.62 billion people around the world are Muslims. This means that not every Muslim is Arabic. In fact, the largest Muslim population is in Indonesia not the Middle East. Now, I don’t want to preach hate about non-Muslims. Rather, I would like to encourage peace and the search for truth about religions. The world would be such a better place if people learned to get a long and not criticize people. How does chastising a creed of people benefit you in anyway? For so long there have been wars over religious conflict, such as the Crusades, the World Wars, etc. We have read about these events in history books for so long, and yet if you read carefully biases reveal themselves. Furthermore, how are we to break away from prejudices if we are being taught this in school?

<span> The solution to prejudices about religion is actually hearing what people have to say. It is important to listen first than talk, because you need to know every thing that person has to say in order to respond. I know tons of people that criticize Islam, but they never even try to listen or be exposed to it. People act as if they were children being fed vegetables. They would rather complain about it than actually experience it and than make up your mind about. Another solution would be to read the Qur’an, The Holy Bible, etc. If you read these scriptures than you will totally get the grasp of the religion. This is because religions are rooted in some kind of writing, beliefs, etc.

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