Many people on BL think that I actually defend Islam.
As a matter of fact, defending Islam is not my goad, rather it is attacking ignorance (on both sides) which fuels an on-going ideological war.
But a recent event reminded me of a disturbing fact that has me wondering why I even bother, as I feel I could care less what happens to the majority of both Muslims and Anti-Muslims today.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from a random guy saying he has my resume and wants to interview me for a teaching position in Dubai. I was a bit confused but decided what the hell, never waste a chance. I went to his school in Mississauga - 2 hours away - for said interview.
As I was about to go in, he came out, said hello, and announced that they're all going to pray before the interview. I didn't think much of it and just sat and waited. After the prayer, he called me in and introduced me to the Emirati who was recruiting. He was one of those religious men with a disgusting haywire beard... I'm sure you've seen examples of that in the news....
Anyway, the whole thing went swimmingly, aside from the fact that they were both dismayed that I changed my first name to Alex. At the end, the sheikh asked me if I knew so-and-so, and it turns out he'd been given my resume by a cousin in the UAE who worked in the Ministry of Education there. This meant that if things were to go the Middle-Eastern way, that I already got the job and the interview was just a formality.
That did not happen, and I never heard back from them.
After a week, we called said cousin and learnt that it was most likely my name. He said that some people would think that my changing my name was a change of religion. It all made sense now: the call to prayer as part of an interview, the beard, the dismay at name-change...
In a way, I see this as a blessing in disguise. Never would I ever want to work with such disgusting people.
And never would I ever want to come off as defending them.
From now on, I will limit discussion to Medieval Islam, which was FAR more progressive than the idiocy it had degenerated to today, and which I had forgotten due to not being part of the culture.
How disappointing and shameful.
As a matter of fact, defending Islam is not my goad, rather it is attacking ignorance (on both sides) which fuels an on-going ideological war.
But a recent event reminded me of a disturbing fact that has me wondering why I even bother, as I feel I could care less what happens to the majority of both Muslims and Anti-Muslims today.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from a random guy saying he has my resume and wants to interview me for a teaching position in Dubai. I was a bit confused but decided what the hell, never waste a chance. I went to his school in Mississauga - 2 hours away - for said interview.
As I was about to go in, he came out, said hello, and announced that they're all going to pray before the interview. I didn't think much of it and just sat and waited. After the prayer, he called me in and introduced me to the Emirati who was recruiting. He was one of those religious men with a disgusting haywire beard... I'm sure you've seen examples of that in the news....
Anyway, the whole thing went swimmingly, aside from the fact that they were both dismayed that I changed my first name to Alex. At the end, the sheikh asked me if I knew so-and-so, and it turns out he'd been given my resume by a cousin in the UAE who worked in the Ministry of Education there. This meant that if things were to go the Middle-Eastern way, that I already got the job and the interview was just a formality.
That did not happen, and I never heard back from them.
After a week, we called said cousin and learnt that it was most likely my name. He said that some people would think that my changing my name was a change of religion. It all made sense now: the call to prayer as part of an interview, the beard, the dismay at name-change...
In a way, I see this as a blessing in disguise. Never would I ever want to work with such disgusting people.
And never would I ever want to come off as defending them.
From now on, I will limit discussion to Medieval Islam, which was FAR more progressive than the idiocy it had degenerated to today, and which I had forgotten due to not being part of the culture.
How disappointing and shameful.
