Will It Ever End?

A few days back, my mother-in-law wrote to me regarding an article she had read in the newspaper. She sent the link, and I read it. The article was superb. The title was, "If Muslim doctors are intolerant, let them go" and it was written by Andrew O'Hagan.

The article reminded me, in a way, of all the times my grandfather used to tell me that he walked to and from school uphill, in the snow, both ways, because there are mentions of a time long past. I do have to say, that this article doesn't lead to the eye rolling that my grandfather's story did.

Times have changed, and all of the changes aren't for the better. What is worse, is that in our attempt to make things better, we have inadvertently made things worse. I say this because, the article starts off by speaking of a time when the author was growing up. A time when your "average Joe" didn't look too kindly on those of different races and religions, and were anything but kind and compassionate. It was in those times that people of the Muslim faith (as singled out in the article) wouldn't have dreamed of making waves, but would have instead tried to assimilate as much as possible for them. Today, those of that very same faith do the exact opposite. As we (modern, western civilization) have tried to make all feel welcome, and as we have preached, and many of us practiced, the revered (and rightly so) act of tolerance, we expect that we will get the same treatment, and are finding out, all too quickly, that we are not going to. We have forgotten that not all people think like us, while at the same time recognizing that we are so very different. The author of the article I am speaking of does a far better job of pointing this out of course.

It is an article well worth reading for a glimpse of what I just mentioned alone, but it doesn't stop there. It goes on to show why we (members of modern, western civilization) need to put our foot down. Tolerance is one thing, and being walked on, and abused by having our own beliefs mis-used, and used against us, is another altogether. You may have heard about the Muslim dentist in England, who refused to service female patients without head scarfs, or maybe even of the story in England that this particular article is referring to. Maybe something similar has happened to you here in the States. No matter where, or how, or when it happened, it shouldn't have happened. Where will we draw the line? When will it stop? Will it ever end? Not if people don't put their foot down. Tolerance has a stopping point.

When my mother-in-law sent me this article, and wrote to me, she probably didn't know that I would write about it. I couldn't turn a bind eye to it, and it was something that even prompted her to write a "letter to the editor" which she shared with me. In closing, I will leave you with her words, as she hits the nail right on the head.

"THREE CHEERS FOR ANDREW O'HAGAN

How heartily I agree with Andrew O'Hagan in his article today "If doctors are intolerant, get rid of them". It sorely needed saying, and repeating as often as necessary until the message sinks in.

It simply boils down to "If you don't like the way we do things over here, go and live somewhere else and leave us in peace."

We can surely cope without such ignorance and intolerance."

No truer words have been spoken, and she is far nicer about it than I would have been. Nothing I really, truly, want to say would be suitable for the newspaper on this matter, and lucky for all of you, my poor husband gets the brunt of my hours long tantrums that are laced with language that could make a sailor blush.