America the Beautiful (and fat, too)

Salutations -

Alright, so it's been a few months since I've had a McDonald's lunch. No, I'm not joking -- it really has been that long. Stop laughing, you incredulous punk!

Unfortunately, my few month hiatus from the Golden Arches deserves another long-term hiatus. You see, I've been meaning to write this blog for the past few hours now, but have been unable to do so because of resulting unpleasant bowel movements post the McDonald's lunch, which has caused several visits to the washroom. Ugh!

Without divulging all the dirty little secrets (hee hee), I will now make a smooth transition onto today's topic: The guy who ate McDonald's for 30 days in a row (see documentary: Super Size Me). His name is Morgan Spurlock; also known in the medical community as an idiot, but as a messiah in the fat people community. (See Spurlock's blog at: http://blogs.indiewire.com/morganspurlock/)

You've probably heard by now of his new TV show on FX (Fox Network - go figure!) called 30 Days. If not, too bad. The point of the show is to have someone live someone else's life, in a manner of speaking, for 30 days. Well, one episode dealt with a white guy...err, a male Caucasian from somewhere where there's a lot of white, ignorant people**...is dropped off in the middle of Dearborn, Michigan, where Muslims are the majority. So this guy (David Stacy) lives with a young Muslim couple while trying to learn what these 'fanatical' Muslims are all about.

**(Disclaimer: I'm not saying white people are ignorant. Just the ones in America. J/k!)

While chronicling David's adventures in Dearborn, Spurlock interviews random people on the street asking them things like, What do you think of when you hear of 'Islam'? Many people, without knowning the real beauty, simplicty, and peace of Islam, say things like, "Terrorism." If you're Muslim, you probably anticipated that response without any real shock. (Admittedly, though, I was still a little shocked because it kinda hurts to hear that, ya know?)

Anyway, like I said, the show chronicles David's 'adventures' in Dearborn where he is required to 1) pray as a Muslim, 2) read the Quran daily, and 3) grow a beard/look like a Muslim. He struggles most with praying as a Muslim because of his strong identification with the Christian faith and notions of betraying Jesus (peace be upon him). Regardless, after reaching a very basic, if that, appreciation of Islam, David finally prays on his 28th day. Towards the end of the show, he also mentions how he would defend Muslims if people ever try to put Muslims down (he faced a little of the prejudice we face when he tried talking to random people about Islam).

That's nice to hear, but not 100% satisfying because I am convinced that the people he interacted with were not the most knowledgeable or eloquent of Muslims. In fact, many of the Muslims were Shia and not Sunni. Hey, don't think I'm saying anything against the Shia, but the fact remains that Shias are a small percentage of Muslims.

To make a long story short, the show was a good attempt on showing that Muslims, especially here in America, are in fact normal people like anyone else. I echo the sentiments one Muslim mentioned on the show. He basically told David Stacy that after 9/11, Muslims were expected to condemn and apologize for the bombings. He agreed with the condemnation, of course, as any decent human would do. But as far as an apology, what's the basis? How can, as David later said himself, an entire religion of ~1.5 billion people apologize for the mistakes of a small, tiny percentage of misguided people? How is that fair? Or, dare I say, how is that democratic or American?

(Note: Let's not get technical on our different definitions of democracy here, like bringing up the well-known article The Irony of Democracy. I'm obviously speaking in general terms here.)

And it's on that note that I'd like to extend my own sympathies to the people out in London. Not an apology from Muslim, but a sincere and heartfelt prayer for the victims and their families. I hope people that watched the show, regardless of some, let's say 'logistical' issues with it, at least take the good from its intention (I hope) of showing American Muslims (and consequently Muslims in general) as a 'normal' and peaceful people.

So, in conclusion, I do plan on going to McDonald's in the future because they're fricken filet-o-fish burgers are awesome. It's the American thing to do and I'm no exception to that...
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Here's a worthwhile excerpt to read from Spurlock's blog on this episode. Well said, Morgan (Thanks):

"We live in a country where 3 in every 20 people have passports. That's only 15%. We rarely think beyond our own communities, let alone beyond our borders. What this show is about is what happens when you let your guard down to learn something new about someone else; someone you judged for reasons that weren't even supported by your own experiences, but by stereotypes, rumors and conditioning.

This episode is about American born muslims, people whose
parents came to America with the same hopes and aspirations as your and my ancestors. They are Americans, just like you and me, and they have a deep faith and belief in God."

Cheers.