I did an impulsive thing yesterday, which, while I completely do NOT regret, think I probably could have restrained myself from.
I got an email from a friend, it was a 'forwarded' email. This friend sends me a lot of Christian emails - she knows I am not religious so I am not sure why she does this, but I don't ever say anything about them, I just delete them.
Yesterday though, I had to respond. I got an email which was basically a 'Muslim hate' email. I was very confused. On one hand, she sends me pro Christian emails and expects me to be ok, and then she sends me this?
I have several Muslim friends, when the first friend reconverted, I admittedly was a little shocked, but I did my best to understand her. People make choices in their life and this is the choice that she made. Since then I have actually learnt a lot about her religion - while I would never devote my life to ANY religion, I am now more comfortable with her and her choice. At first I made the common assumptions that most people seem to make, and felt like a right moron when I realised the true aspects. The part that all of my friends practice, has NOTHING to do with the common misconceptions of unequal rights to women, terrorism, racism etc etc. And each person I know who practice this religion do NOT judge others for not being a part, nor do they try to convert them - which is very important to me.
Anyway. So, back to my story.
I had to respond to this email. I am hoping I don't tarnish the friendship, as I wrote on impulse:
Please don't send me articles like this, I have several muslim friends and find this deeply offensive.
I don't think I wrote anything too horrible?
-----------------------------------
Recently Watched: The Castle
uh-oh - acting on impulse
September 12th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
September 12th, 2009 at 11:43 pm 1252799028
Good for you - no sense in tolerating things that you find completely offensive! And the ironic thing I find is that I, as a devout Catholic, have been taught to accept and embrace all brothers and sisters of faith whether they worship Allah, Yaweh, or Buddha.
Similarly, I have found people of the agnostic or atheist persuasion to be moral and non-judgemental compared to some of the Born Again Christians I know. I suppose it takes all sorts, though your friend's behavior really does irk me!
September 12th, 2009 at 11:52 pm 1252799532
Good for standing up for your own beliefs!
September 13th, 2009 at 01:36 am 1252805790
September 13th, 2009 at 01:33 pm 1252848800
September 13th, 2009 at 02:52 pm 1252853532
I have a friend who does this kind of stuff too, and I think she just does a "send all" to everyone in her address book. I don't think she really thinks about whether each recipient really wants to receive the email.
I also check snopes for pretty much any forward. I frequently find them there.
September 13th, 2009 at 03:29 pm 1252855795