I thank the Gazette-Times for the wonderful article describing the Eid al Adha, a Muslim holiday. It was with dismay and some amusement that I read Bobbie Younger's letter (Dec. 7, "Other religions should get as much ink as Islam did") lamenting the coverage and asking for equal coverage for Jewish and Christian Holidays.
In the 16-plus years I have been living in Corvallis, the Muslim holy days have been mentioned via national press releases only, with a few notable exceptions, including: a food day article profiling the foods of Ramadan several years ago; the tragic death of the leader of the mosque last year and the aforementioned article.
Corvallis houses one of approximately six mosques and the only Muslim cemetery in all of Oregon.
So, yes, it is important to those of us who have friends and family in the Muslim community in Corvallis to let the community know that we live, attend school, work, volunteer, celebrate holidays and are active members of this community.
Yes, we would like to share the details of the faith to further understanding and to educate the community in order to (hopefully) build bridges that have been so badly burned by a loud minority.
I, for one, look forward to the December holiday season and enjoy reading about the people and companies who are giving to the community; the holiday recipes, the decorating ideas and the different ways the various faiths and cultures celebrate. I hope Ms. Younger wouldn't deny Muslims the same opportunity.
Kristin Rifai, Corvallis
In the 16-plus years I have been living in Corvallis, the Muslim holy days have been mentioned via national press releases only, with a few notable exceptions, including: a food day article profiling the foods of Ramadan several years ago; the tragic death of the leader of the mosque last year and the aforementioned article.
Corvallis houses one of approximately six mosques and the only Muslim cemetery in all of Oregon.
So, yes, it is important to those of us who have friends and family in the Muslim community in Corvallis to let the community know that we live, attend school, work, volunteer, celebrate holidays and are active members of this community.
Yes, we would like to share the details of the faith to further understanding and to educate the community in order to (hopefully) build bridges that have been so badly burned by a loud minority.
I, for one, look forward to the December holiday season and enjoy reading about the people and companies who are giving to the community; the holiday recipes, the decorating ideas and the different ways the various faiths and cultures celebrate. I hope Ms. Younger wouldn't deny Muslims the same opportunity.
Kristin Rifai, Corvallis
I'm not going to respond to bigmike, but this is the link I would post.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php
The comments got even worst than bigmike's. Amazing how narrow-minded those folks can be, wow. The idea that if Islam were the majority religion that it would lead to oppression of women, etc. is unfounded. Not the case in Turkey. It wasn't that case in Iraq either before we ousted Sadam. Yes, in many Muslim countries women don't have equal right to men, but these two cases show that it is not related to Islam being the majority religion.
ReplyDeleteIt's astonishing the level of bigotry displayed in response to a pretty nice letter.
ReplyDelete