Opinion
 

Letters to the Editor

A lesson in ethics

To the editor:

As good citizens, we all should scream about what Mr. Matthew Caster said Wednesday in his opinion column "New regime answers prayers."

I am a Muslim who believes in Allah, respects all other religious beliefs and also tries to bring peace in community I live in. Itis a painful truth that we all have an animal inside of us, and we show humanity by not revealing our animalistic side to others, which may harm them in some way.

Letis get one thing straight: No matter how much we deny racism exists in this country, it is everywhere. We may not admit it openly in public, but racism really exists. If a person gets mad at someone, the first thing they might do is curse that personis race. Thatis just the way things are ­ a painful truth, isn't it?

Because white people lynched black people only 40 years ago, should we believe that all white people are racist, prejudiced and think they superior are to everyone? No, we will not bring ourselves to be judgmental.

We respect others so that we may in return be respected as well. As a Muslim, everyone is my brother and sister, and I presumed that others thought in the same way ­ apparently thatis not the case. Some people have lost their minds and donit know what they are talking about when they say all Muslims are terrorists or suicide bombers. If a Muslim happened to wrong you, it doesn't mean that all Muslims are evil, devil-like creatures. It shows immaturity and foolishness to think that. My advice to the confused: Take a precious minute to think, please.

After reading Caster's article, I was shocked not by the fact that it criticized Saddam Hussein, but by the negative comments about Muslims. His idea of what the so-called 21^st-Century Muslim should wear actually means less clothes on the female body. This would show off their womanly figures, which is considered indecent attire in the Islamic culture.

Caster is wrong and living in a fantasy world. All I can say to him is come back to the real world. Since heis a senior student, he may discover his type of ideology can be tough in the real world. Just because we have freedom of speech, it doesn't mean we should use that right to be racist and discriminatory toward people based on their religious beliefs.

The column may be funny to others, but under the guise of helping out Iraqi people, Caster made a racist comment about the entire Muslim world ­ that's not good.

Let's be kind to one another and may Allah bless everybody. 

Shahriar Khan,
Junior, electrical engineering 
 

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the UH community and should focus on issues, not personalities. Letters must be typed and must include the author's name, telephone number and affiliation with the University. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, language and space. Letters may be delivered in person to Room 151, Communication; e-mailed to dclettrs@mail.uh.edu ; or faxed to (713) 743-5384.Send comments to dccampus@mail.uh.edu