Dante Brodie

Professor Cassandra Blandford

UWRITE 1103
7 October 2015
I chose to write about the religion of Islam. I chose Islam because I
know they have dealt with a lot of unfair hatred and discrimination due to a
misunderstanding of their faith. I know some people that are Muslim and
there are a lot of ways I would like to understand what drives their faith. I
know that Islam is much different than my faith, Christianity, but I dont know
much about the religion itself. Ive always wanted to have an understanding
of other beliefs and religions, especially of Muslims and people that identify
with the Islamic faith. More specifically, I am trying to understand the Muslim
community in the United States within the past 20 years or so. In this time
span, there have been many famous figures who have converted and took a
stand for their beliefs. However, there have also been plenty of American
people taking the opposite side, shunning the practices of Islam in this
country as well as discriminating against Muslims. Regardless of the
opposition, Muslims have continued to come to the United States and the
American-Islamic community is growing fast.
From my perspective, Muslims have made their place in American
culture. That is part of why I chose to research them and their customs. I
want to see how the foreign customs have come to influence American
people to convert to Islam and how these customs fit into our society. Also,

most of the Muslim people that I know are very peaceful. However,
Americans paint a negative picture of them because of their differences. I
find it interesting that there is so much judgment and hatred thrown at them,
yet they still are able to approach people with respect and love. I want to
know how the religious practices may (or may not) vary when it comes to
different regions, races, genders, or social status. Much of the discrimination
Muslims deal with stems from terrorism and the destruction they are
responsible for in the United States. I want to find out how their beliefs drive
these practices and how they have affected us in recent times. Finding what
is behind their practices can help me understand Muslims in a deeper way
and give insight to them as every day people. I also want to look into what
makes some of their practices so extreme. I know that there are certain
stereotypes wrongly forced on the religion as a whole, but I also have seen
real hate crimes by Muslims in America, and I want to explore the dynamic
between the stereotypes and the negative parts of Islam.
I plan to focus mainly on individuals as sources for a look into the true
role of Islam in America. From interviews, I will see what insight I can gain
from people that I know. My main focus will be on how they feel their religion
is viewed by the average Christian. Also, I would like to see how American
culture may have affected their experience with Islamic culture. Some other
sources I plan to draw from is documentaries and news stories about Muslim
people. Many famous events have occurred in recent history linked to Islam,
and many of those events have caused negative backlash upon Muslims

because the general public didnt understand these actions. Some of these
events caused major problems in America, so the backlash is somewhat
justified, but I would like to see a Muslims perspective on these events.
Recently, American media has put a negative slant on the Islamic faith. Ill
focus on getting an inside look into this faith.
If my initial research isnt as specific as I want, I will probably narrow
my search to just the stereotypes and discrimination Muslims go through
more so than the details and reasons behind their culture. With this topic, I
have a lot of different things to find, and they all go together as a whole.
From the purpose and true meaning of the religion, to their practices and
why they came about, to present day Muslims and what they do as forms of
worship. With that being said, I may have to stick to just talking about the
Muslim community in the United States and how they fit their own culture
into a slice of our world. Im not really worried about my research not
returning enough information. In just the time that Ive been getting my
proposal and ideas together, Ive already found an abundance of information
that will be useful. Many of my resources are reliable, credible outlets that
can give me reliable knowledge. Therefore, my search will probably end up
being too broad. Religion is a very complicated subject, especially when
youre trying to understand one you know very little about. I do plan to look
as deep as I can into their world to be able to understand them and their
literacy.