This post really resonates with me because, while American by birth, I grew up in the Middle East. I have learned to not talk about my experiences with most people due to the extreme ideas that many hold about how Arabs live and what they believe. It is amazing to me that someone who has never even had a meaningful conversation with an Arab can have fully formed ideas of who they are and how they live /think. I apply this theory of silence to other topics like politics and religion. I just get too frustrated with people who have passionate ideas that are based little or no fact. I been proven wrong many times in my life and had to admit that and change my worldview. This site has opened my eyes to new ways of thought and I welcome and seek out new knowledge instead of denying it and being afraid of it. I think that some people will hold onto ideas that are obviously false because of a narrow worldview. Those people are good for playdates for the kids or maybe to go see a movie with but not to waste time arguing with.
