There is a woman I work with who is from Bangladesh. She is smart and kind, two pretty good qualities, wouldn't you say? Although she read English, she was not used to speaking it until she came to America two months ago to join her boyfriend, who has been here since 2004.
I have been telling her I want to learn about Bangladesh. Last night was slow, so we had a chance to talk a bit. I have to listen very intently to understand what she is saying. I asked her a lot of questions. She told me that Islam is the religion of most people in Bangladesh, including her. She told me how her country fought and gained freedom from Pakistan in 1972. She told me how India deliberately "opened gates" to cause terrible flooding of Bangladesh in 1987, killing thousands of people. I said, "Oh, you probably don't like Indians." She confessed that was true, but begged me not to reveal it, because we have many Indian Americans who shop in the store.
On the question of Islam, she told me it is a religion of love, not of violence. She became nervous when I questioned her on that subject, because she realizes that "people here in America do not like Muslims." She asked me not to tell anyone at work that she is Muslim. That made me sad, because we in America are not the ones initiating violence against Muslims. It is the other way around. Our soldiers are risking their lives to stop Islamic violence.
I listened to Rush Limbaugh today for a few minutes. He said he gets up every morning and does show prep by reading. He said he is defending American values that he finds being attacked every day. That is exactly how I feel as I read blogs every day to inform myself of what is going on in the world. I want this woman to know that I believe in a loving God, a God who I am sure smiles on her as she is kind to people every day, and that she has nothing to fear from me or from the God I worship.
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