The recent events in the United States and around the world, following Pastor Terry Jones’ plans to burn 200 copies of the Koran grasped the attention of millions. The immediate reaction among Muslims in countries, where radicalism is an issue, made some of us wonder how secure we are.

Are Muslims perceived as “dangerous” after 9/11?  Is it just us, or a real threat to the “western” world? Much depends on how the “western world” acts, I would say.
I had a chat with an Imam several years ago, in Algiers. It’s unbelievable how friendly people get when you speak their language. Arabic is a beautiful language, even though it sounds so “different”. The imam who knew I came from the country where John Paul II was born, asked me about Catholics in Europe, and assured me that to them Christians were “brothers”, and Jesus was perceived as “one of the prophets”. He was curious of how we live and think. This is another “face” of Islam that not many are familiar with.
Try to speak French in France; you will see how much warmer people get once they see you’re making an effort to understand their culture. They might be just as afraid of “Americanization” , and “franglais” getting more and more popular, as Muslims are of western influence on their societies. The risk seems minimal, if you speak English in France, though. You may not get an answer, if you ask for directions, when you get lost on your way to Aixy on a country-road, but nobody will shoot you.
So where shall we put the borderline between “safe” and “dangerous”? The assassination of Theo Van Gogh, a film-director in Netherlands (November 2004) provides a good example, as far as extreme reactions are concerned. Offending religious beliefs, judging a different set of cultural values, might be dangerous.
Some European countries have been having problems due to the lack of understanding of Islam and possible consequences of violating Muslim values.
A few years ago, a teenage girl was killed by her relative in France, as she stopped wearing higab (wearing higab was forbidden at her school). There are religious reasons for wearing it, though. It has to do with the “honor” of the whole clan, according to the traditional Muslim values.
Some schools in the UK also forbid wearing any symbols of religious beliefs. According to EUMC (The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) research, many Muslims in the EU feel “excluded from economic, social and cultural life”.
As a result, many Muslims living in European countries, as well as in the US (after 9/11) identify more with Islam than with the society as a whole they legally “belong” to. Young Muslim Americans admit they are being perceived as “foreigners” just because they wear higab.
The case of Terry Jones and reactions following the wide publicity he got makes us wonder. Even though the environment in Lethbridge seems so peaceful, and the city itself provides an ideal example of a cultural diversity, we live in a global reality and perhaps we should ask ourselves: what is the role of the media in shaping cultural awareness today? What does the notion of “responsible media” mean to us?