9/11

Life had been okay up till then. I mean, I knew there were bad people, but I didn't think they were the majority of anything. And I had viewed all religions in a somewhat positive light at that point. I had no hatred or annimosity towards islam.

I was in college at the time, at Hofstra, on long island, and my mom called me up screaming and crying after I had gotten back from my first class (I think). She told me what was happening, and I turned the TV on in time to see the first tower fall on the news. My dad works in the city, but thankfully he was on furlow at the time. But two of my aunts were there when it happened, they luckily escaped. We also had a few family friends who lost their lives there, firemen and regular people who were just trying to provide for their families.

I think what upset me most was seeing muslims around the world celebrating on the day it happened. And hearing the stories from people who lived/worked near mosques in the US who said they were out in the streets cheering. That pretty much sealed the deal for me with how I see islamic peoples. And events since then have only made me think worse of them. Far worse. Let me make one thing clear, even if 9/11 didn't happen, the things this culture/religion has done since then would have made me hate them regardless.

I don't believe for a second that the majority is peaceful. I think it's a minority that is trying to be progressive and that's it. And I understand the media is always going to paint them in a negative light. But I don't think what the media is doing is far from the truth. There really isn't a way to put a positive spin on stoning a woman to death for looking at someone the wrong way, executing someone because another person said they burned their holy book, or putting a gangrape victim in jail for being gangraped. They obviously don't see themselves as extremist's, neither do they think they're doing anything wrong, because this is what they believe in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mehk5eWcZA

Anyways, that's kind of the tldr of how I wen't from someone who was generally accepting of everyone regardless of religion and culture, to someone who despises islam and it's culture. I know people are going to say they're not all like that, they're not all extremists, but a lot of them are... and a lot of them don't see the fucked up practices/culture they have as extreme either. Things that voilate basic human rights that everyone should have no matter what country you're in.

TLDR; 9/11 and the ensuing exposure to muslim culture turned someone who was generally accepting of everyone into someone who was hateful and distrustful of certain religions and cultures.