DroppinScience
03-04-2007, 04:26 AM
I love my dad and all, but the dude gets on my nerves. I'd like to hear your input on this.
Okay, so ever since 9/11 happened, he's cast a suspicious eye towards the Middle East, much like a lot of people. Specifically, I'm referring to Muslims more than anything.
I wouldn't consider him a racist person by any means. For example, in his dental practice, the staff and dentists he hires on are almost all non-white (mostly Asians) and he's respectful of everyone. However, the one exception that's persisted (sometimes subtly, sometimes not as subtly) as of late is towards Muslims.
Before I go on, by no means is he a hateful person. He never participated in any hate-crimes against Muslims during the 9/11 aftermath nor does he shout slurs or anything of the sort. He's a well-educated and articulate person. However, I think he's become brainwashed by the mass media and more or less equates Islam with terrorism.
Now, he knows like everyone else, that not every Muslim is a terrorist, but he said "they've got enough bad people anyway."
I'll give you two very recent examples:
Friday night, we went to go see the French film "Days Of Glory (Indigenes)" which is a story of France's colonies (Algeria and others) fighting to free France from German occupation in World War II. So the story shows how hard these Muslim soldiers fought and gave their lives for a country that treated them with indifference or contempt. He enjoyed the movie, but he said "it's got an agenda" and made the flippant remark that it could incite the Muslims of today to "rise up" or some such nonsense (I don't think they needed this film to get that inspiration :rolleyes: ), and mentioned the terrorism of today and so forth.
Next is dealing with the TV sitcom "Little Mosque on the Prairie" (about a Muslim community in small-town rural Canada which pokes fun at Muslim stereotypes and the paranoia that Islamic people are all terrorists). I showed him the first episode of the series and he thought it was pretty funny, but then his own personal paranoia came in. Once again, he stated that the show "has its own agenda" and wishes to show the Muslim community as normal people and so forth. Basically, he was kind of insinuating that the reality is the opposite of this depiction. He then went on to say one of the stupidest statements imaginable: he said shows like these in their own way "help the terrorists." In other words, shows that could help encourage cooperation, tolerance, understanding towards Muslims would help the terrorists' plans because the population at large would no longer be suspicious towards Muslims, so then the terrorists can go and carry out their plans and infiltrate and attack Western society because we all have our guard down. Something really ridiculous like that. :rolleyes:
I got so pissed off at this remark that I refused to talk to him for the rest of the evening. I shut the door and bid him good night.
I really don't know where the hell this verbal diarrhea comes from. I'd like to blame it on FOX News, but he doesn't watch that and he found them ridiculous.
That last remark was really the final straw for me and I don't know what to do about his warped vision. It almost makes me want to convert to Islam to piss him off or something. GAH! :mad:
Okay, so ever since 9/11 happened, he's cast a suspicious eye towards the Middle East, much like a lot of people. Specifically, I'm referring to Muslims more than anything.
I wouldn't consider him a racist person by any means. For example, in his dental practice, the staff and dentists he hires on are almost all non-white (mostly Asians) and he's respectful of everyone. However, the one exception that's persisted (sometimes subtly, sometimes not as subtly) as of late is towards Muslims.
Before I go on, by no means is he a hateful person. He never participated in any hate-crimes against Muslims during the 9/11 aftermath nor does he shout slurs or anything of the sort. He's a well-educated and articulate person. However, I think he's become brainwashed by the mass media and more or less equates Islam with terrorism.
Now, he knows like everyone else, that not every Muslim is a terrorist, but he said "they've got enough bad people anyway."
I'll give you two very recent examples:
Friday night, we went to go see the French film "Days Of Glory (Indigenes)" which is a story of France's colonies (Algeria and others) fighting to free France from German occupation in World War II. So the story shows how hard these Muslim soldiers fought and gave their lives for a country that treated them with indifference or contempt. He enjoyed the movie, but he said "it's got an agenda" and made the flippant remark that it could incite the Muslims of today to "rise up" or some such nonsense (I don't think they needed this film to get that inspiration :rolleyes: ), and mentioned the terrorism of today and so forth.
Next is dealing with the TV sitcom "Little Mosque on the Prairie" (about a Muslim community in small-town rural Canada which pokes fun at Muslim stereotypes and the paranoia that Islamic people are all terrorists). I showed him the first episode of the series and he thought it was pretty funny, but then his own personal paranoia came in. Once again, he stated that the show "has its own agenda" and wishes to show the Muslim community as normal people and so forth. Basically, he was kind of insinuating that the reality is the opposite of this depiction. He then went on to say one of the stupidest statements imaginable: he said shows like these in their own way "help the terrorists." In other words, shows that could help encourage cooperation, tolerance, understanding towards Muslims would help the terrorists' plans because the population at large would no longer be suspicious towards Muslims, so then the terrorists can go and carry out their plans and infiltrate and attack Western society because we all have our guard down. Something really ridiculous like that. :rolleyes:
I got so pissed off at this remark that I refused to talk to him for the rest of the evening. I shut the door and bid him good night.
I really don't know where the hell this verbal diarrhea comes from. I'd like to blame it on FOX News, but he doesn't watch that and he found them ridiculous.
That last remark was really the final straw for me and I don't know what to do about his warped vision. It almost makes me want to convert to Islam to piss him off or something. GAH! :mad: