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Most people spewing hate, and wondering why Muslims would be suspicious of the Anglo-American empire have never met a Muslim. If a group of people go to your country to take its resources and kill thousands of people wouldn't you be suspicious of them too?When I was a teacher in Thailand, I had a student who was Muslim. In a Catholic school the only way I knew he was Muslim is that he would not recite the prayer to the Virgin Mary in the morning. He was a kind, thoughtful child who put up with being made fun of by Buddhists. He tolerated the playful banter quite well though. He made no issue of fasting at Ramadan. He simply fasted and said nothing.
When I was a teacher I also had a teacher's assistant who was a Muslim. I would never have known unless she told me. She was quiet, and worked hard with the children. She was a thoughtful worker who never had a bitter word for anyone.
I dated a boy from Iran when I was in college. Of all the men I dated in college he was the most polite. He never treated me with disrespect.
I'll never forget going to an amusement park in Thailand and while waiting for my kids to get off of the roller coaster, I watched while a group of Muslim girls got on a ride that went upside down. Once they were upside down all their scarves came flying off. It was quite an amusing sight.
Americans and British need to take a look a their empire building, resource grabbing behavior, and wonder why people living in those countries might not appreciate Anglo-American aggression. We Anglo-Americans need to realize that we are being taken for a ride too. We don't need to waste our wealth fighting in a foreign land taking resources for the elite within our society. We don't need to be dragged around my our own ignorance.
