Conform to my culture, Jiahdi

I was having a discussion today about how people should not throw their religion in other peoples face, and how they should conform to the culture of the country that they are in.

Dumbfounded by the premise of their argument, and out of respect for my lungs, I decided to not waste my breath and walk away. But I know that he was not alone, there are probably thousands of people across the globe with this same poisonous thinking. After all, the Brexit did just happen.

I address this to each and every one of you, and will try and put across the other side of this argument as clearly and articulately as I can. I write as a common brown man with a beard and a turban. Whether I am a Sikh, Muslim, Indian or Iraqi is inconsequential.

You say that if I am in “their” country then I should respect and follow “their” culture.

Well I ask you who the hell is they? How do you decide who the country belongs to? In today’s world every country is multi-cultural. Whether it is a Muslim family who has been living in America for generations or a family that migrated from Kenya more than a century back. Are they still not part of the country? Are they still to be considered as outsiders despite being born there, despite paying taxes and despite voting for the people who run the country? Should they still hide their identity, live in fear and “conform to your culture” because they are the minority?

And don’t talk about respecting cultures. The Europeans slaughtered millions of Native Americans because they were different, where was your respect then? Britain “Civilized” India because they didn’t agree with the Indian style of living, where was your respect then? America has ravaged the Middle East beyond recognition because they consider the Muslim culture a threat, where is your goddamn respect now?

So when you say respect their culture, I’m assuming you are referring solely to the western culture, because no one ever talks about respect the other way around.

You say that I am “Pushing” my religion in your face by tying a turban or wearing a burka.

Well I ask you then why is it alright for nuns to wear their robes and fathers to wear their collars? Why is it alright to spread the message of Jesus but a crime to spread the message of, well, any other prophet?

Because I make you feel unsafe you say?

Need I remind you of the bloody and brutal history of Christianity? The Spanish inquisition? The purging of the pagans and witches? The concentration camps? I don’t recall their being a mass hysteria against people wearing the cross. Against anyone who was white.

The fact is that I am not forcing you to wear a turban, you are forcing me to take off mine. I am not forcing you to wear a burka, you are forcing me to take off mine.

And why? Because you are xenophobic? Because despite more than half of the world’s population being brown, you still believe that every brown bearded person is out to kill you? Because every woman wearing a Burka has a bomb vest inside? Honestly, who sounds crazy now?

You say I have no problem with Indians or Sikhs or Browns, I just don’t like the Muslims because they are extremists.

Let’s not even go into how absurd it is to blame an entire religion of over 1.6 billion people for the actions of .04% of Muslims. Instead, let’s focus on the facts- According to the FBI, 94% of the terror attacks carried out in America from 1980 to 2015 have been by non-Muslims. That means that a terrorist is over 9 times more likely to be a non-Muslim than a Muslim. Why do we then fear every brown man we see? Could it be because of the shroud of fear laid out in front of our eyes?

Here is a perfect example- Every crime carried by a middle-aged white man wielding a gun and slaughtering people is dubbed as “an isolated incident” because the poor soul was suffering from “stress and mental health issues”. Take the same crime and switch the killer to a brown man and see how quickly the headlines change to “Immigrant crisis: hundreds dead” or “Jihadi extremist kills in the name of religion”.

What you are saying is you are scared of anyone and anything different that you. Anyone who believes in something else, dressed in something else or speaks in something else is out to get you.

This article is not against Christianity, and it is not against white people. This article is an answer to all those people who vehemently argue that the world is better off without any diversity. This article is an answer to all those people who vehemently argue that everything wrong with this world is because of one religion. This article is an answer to all those people who vehemently argue that we need to conform to the rules of “their society and culture”

This article is to make you realise that the colour of the skin doesn’t matter. The attire or religion doesn’t matter. The truth is that there will always be a handful of people pitting us against each other for their sadistic pleasures, to profit from the chaos and gain the greatest power over man- Fear.

You decide, whether you want to live in a world full of fear, distrust and blame or one where we take the power back and stick out a middle finger to the people trying to tear this world apart?