I'm doing some writing right now but I couldn't stand the quiet, so I have flipped on the television only to discover there is nothing of interest on. I selected some cop show with Chris O'Donnell on CBS (when did he stop doing movies?) I would have paid no attention to it except I caught a glance of some Arabic writing and I watched a bit more to see what it was all about. Aside from it being a terribly written script with bad dialogue and bad acting, the show is bothering me for another reason. Really bothering me.

The plot is this: one of the agents is being held by Islamic terrorists somewhere in North Africa who are threatening to behead him. The agents who are trying to find him investigate an Islamic youth center in LA. When they go to the center to ask questions, they see a guy carrying a laptop start to run, so they run after him. The guy throws the laptop into a pool at the center and after pulling a knife on one of the agents, is arrested. When they take him for interrogation, he gives the whole "I wanna be a martyr" cliche. Yadda yadda turns out the youth center's funder was recruiting kids as terrorists.

I have been working in the Middle East field for a decade now. I just spent four months in Lebanon. I've visited Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. I am proficient in Arabic. I know Arabs. I know Islam. I find the call to prayer from the minarets of a mosque among the most spiritual things one can experience in life. (For the record, I hate all religions equally, so don't go all Barack Hussein Obama on me.)

I also know America. I know American foreign policy. My exposure to the Middle East has given me firsthand experience in the receiving end of American foreign policy. I have seen the consequences of my country's actions. I have been the recipient of generalized hatred for those actions. I have been a diplomat for America. I have been angry at the constant criticism. I have volunteered for an American political campaign every two years since 1996, too, more than what most Americans do for their country.

American understanding of the Middle East is non-existent, and this kind of stereotypical cliche, this constant portrayal of the bad guys as Muslims, it is fueling the fire. Think about our television shows, our movies. The show 24 was all about Islamic terrorist plots. We are constantly bombarded with images of Islamic militants waving guns and wearing scarves around their faces.

Television is poisoning America. While researchers are saying too much digital is warping our brains, no one is focusing on television. But as our schools get shittier and people get dumber and the Tea Party rages on, the hatred for Muslims in America grows.

What type of American is outraged over a "Ground Zero Mosque?" (Nevermind that it isn't a mosque, or that it isn't even at Ground Zero, or that there's already a mosque closer.) GZM protesters are white flagwaving conservatives who get their news from Fox. These people tend to watch more television than their more liberal American counterparts (whom they don't call "real Americans.")

If things don't change soon, I fear violence. Already a mosque was bombed in Florida and a cabbie was stabbed in New York after he was asked if he were a Muslim.

It turns out the agent in the show was never taken out of LA. One of the terrorists put a key to his handcuffs in his breakfast food so he could escape. He ended up dying in a shootout anyway.

And so on.

Labels: Ground Zero Mosque, Islam, Muslims