[CobaltBlue]

I am in graduate school at George Mason part time. I noticed that right after 9/11, a lot more Muslim women than before were wearing the hijab. Some of them were being escorted to and from school by their parents and older brothers. They appeared to me to be fearful but resolute.

I think it's a Muslim backlash against the anti-Muslim backlash. Many people in this country are full of hatred and rage against all Muslims. But then, a lot of people became more religious after 9/11. Watershed events like that have a tendency to cause people to think about what's important in life. But lashing out against Muslims is not the answer.

"What you resist, persists, and intensifies."

That's why the Bible says, "A soft answer turneth
away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." - Proverbs 15:1.

[Mamzelle]

re: What you resist, persists, and intensifies." )))

Appeasement brings increasement--my own invention.

Turkey is the closest thing to a democritized Islamic state, and it still is not a place I would live. They forbid hijab in public schools and do not allow women who work (women do work in Turkey) in gov buildings to wear hijab while working.

They know well that the moment the women go veiled, that women will be *forced* to be veiled. Hoodlums in European neighborhoods assault women who are not veiled--if "critical mass" is reached in numbers of veiled women, it starts.

But, in the interest of cultural diversity, I think all schools should teach the Koran and some of the sayings of Mohammed--acutely boring, but highly enlightening. I've read them myself, and the more I read, the worse it got. One should particularly be aware that Mohammed said that when two verses of the Koran seem contradictory--take the latter verse. All the peaceful notions are in the front of the Koran.

They scare *me*--