The
events of the last few days are beginning to tear my family apart.
While the media depicts how this tradegy is bringing our country together, I see too many things falling apart.
"Your sister is a traitor," my mother told me when I asked her if she had talked to my sister yet that day to see if she was okay. Days before my sister was afraid to leave her apartment and that's when the arguments within my family began. My mother told her she should stop wearing her
hijab, that she should try to blend in.
My sister is an American. She is also Muslim.
Her
mosque has been receiving death threats. Her friends are afraid of leaving their homes. Islam websites have been forced to shut down because of the insane amount of hate mail they are receiving. A man tried to hit a Muslim woman with his car. Everybody is so ready to blame someone, to point fingers. These are
innocent people, and I can't help but see history repeating itself.
My family has never quite accepted the choice my sister made when she converted to Islam eight years ago. We grew up pretty much as
atheists and she felt she needed something more in her life. Together, we researched religions and beliefs of all sorts.
She chose to accept the ways of Islam in her life. I chose to accept nothing, but I respect her decision and I understand it.
The
traditions of Middle Eastern countries or the distorted beliefs of some fanatics is what people far too often mistaken as Islam.
That is not Islam. The writeups above or from the last few days say more than I could ever say. But I'm so angry right now. I'm angry that my sister, my brother in law, their families, and their friends are living in
a state of fear right now. Not from more terrorist attacks, but from their fellow Americans.