Messiah Student Responses to Anti-Muslim Attitudes

Students have been hitting social media hard in response to many of the current events involving Syria, Paris, and anti-muslim sentiments in the United States. Here is what junior Brent O'Neill had to say in response to some of the comments he's been hearing.

"One of the things that I'm most thankful for about where I grew up is the diversity of people that I've had in my life. While in school, I had friends who were Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Wiccan, "not religious but spiritual," atheist, agnostic, etc. etc. etc.

My friends were all different races and ethnicities, in different economic classes, spoke different languages

I worked with them on projects, hung out with them after school, went over to their houses, performed in musicals with them. So when I see negative portrayals of entire groups of people in the news and on Facebook, I don't believe it.

Because when you're talking negatively about all ____, you're really talking about my friend ____, and I KNOW that that's not true about them.

I'm thankful to know actual flesh and blood people... not caricatures of people created for the simple purpose of division"