**Before I start I want to ask that you please, please don't make your comments into a debate. Just keep it friendly and respectful. Etc.**

In regular school, this feeling I'm having right now was very familiar. Sweating palms, pounding heartbeat, a kind of rush in the ears that after a few minutes I realize is the sound of my own heavy breathing. This happens whenever I am a combination of scared and impassioned, when I find that I must raise my hand and say, No, this is wrong! And then, class would end and I would turn to writing as my outlet.

One such instance that stands out the clearest to me is sixth grade, talking about internment camps. Someone said that we should have internment camps again as we did when we were fighting Japan. Back then, we took all Japanese-Americans and stuck them in awful camps becuase we thought that they were spies and traitors. So this kid said that we should do that agin, but this time with all Muslims. I thought my head was going to explode! I thought my heart would beat out of my chest! I was jumping out of my seat and dreaming of socking those who kept insisting that Muslims were evil in the face. At the very least I wanted to tear my desk to shreds. Even the memory! My blood is boiling!

I went home and wrote a story that I read in class the next day, and I won the debate.

But now a new debate is arising, again with Muslims in the middle. I feel like people I love consider them inherently evil-- and I don't. 

I'm to-the-death to-the-bone Catholic, so that is why I'm very confused. My religion book has a snide tone when it talks about Islam. I try to ignore it. Some of my friends have commented as well, but they have not been snide. I can't blame them, as they haven't had the same experiences as me. I've met plenty of Muslims who have been perfectly civil, kind, normal, friendly, sweet. I know actual, live people who live in my area, who have families and lives. To me, Muslims are not some distant cluster of black-cloaked women or angry men. To me, they're neighbors, students, friends and associates. 

Don't take me the wrong way. I'm not saying that I agree with all their views, that I agree with their religion or anything like that! And don't think that I want to be all, "Peace and love, dude"  and hold hands around the world either, okay? Sorry to be a downer but I don't see that happening anytime soon. And I'm really not the "Let's all just be friends! Sunshine and daisies! Cookies for everyone!" type either. 

But I am also NOT a hater. Even a disliker. I also strive to not judge before I know, to not dislike someone or something just becuase I don't understand it. So that's why I want you to understand! I want you to be able to open up your mind a little and say, "Okay, there is some point to learning more, to meeting people, to re-evaluating my opinions of people."

And I know that even though I try not to judge or hate, people may judge and hate me. Surely there are Muslims who look at Christians or other religions and scorn us, talk about us with a snide tone, or remark on what they don't understand or on their misconceptions. People do that to Christians all the time. Homeschoolers, too. Anything you are, there will be stereotypes and misconceptions about you. There will be people being cruel, even unintentionally hurtful. Beucause they don't know. They don't understand. 

They see the extremists. They see the homeschoolers who deicde to be lazy, or whose parents don't care, or who are locked away all day. They don't see us, with such life and fire and freedom! Or they don't see any homeschoolers at all. They instead see reality TV. They see youtube videos poking fun. They have only known regular school, their schooled friends. But they judge. 

They see the hypocrites. They see those Catholics or Christians who don't follow their own laws, who are cruel and unfaithful and holier-than-thou. They don't see us, with such fire and life and hope and hard work and trying so hard to follow in Jesus' footsteps and come closer to God! Or they haven't seen anyone at all, and they only have the internet and here-say to give them any information. But they judge. 

Do you want to be like that? Do you want to judge like those who judge you? Becuase you are judging, whether you mean to or not. You may have only seen the news, with the suicide bombs and the chaos and destruction. You may look at photographs and see only foreign eyes looking back. You haven't met Barrea, or Amal, or anyone. You don't see that despite the differences there is a person standing there in flesh and blood. There's a face under the hijab. Can you look at that living person and still want to hurt them? Can you see that smile and still want to wipe it away? 

I don't think you do. I think you are good people. 

So my concluding remarks are these:
-In Islam, there are extreme people. Bad, hateful people. But there are also these sweet, funny, intelligent, friendly, kind, wonderful people. I've seen them. 
-To judge them or be unkind is to be hypocritical. We're supposed to turn the other cheek when we're slapped; if someone hates us, we are supposed to show them only love. And when someone doesn't hate us? How can we hate them?
-One needs more information before saying anything. If you don't know about it, don't open your mouth. Open your mind.
-You don't have to agree with someone to care about them. I disagree with my father all the time, my brother just as much. I disagree with my friends sometimes, too. But that's life.   
 

I hope no one is taking this all the wrong way........