Almost every day in the news or in other various forms of media, there is always a blurb about Muslims or Islam. Unfortunately very few of these stories contribute to promoting a positive image of Islam. Rather they tend to portray the religion as one being negative, violent, oppressive, and backwards. For those who know the religion and its teachings would agree that it is anything but, however for the rest of the population, whatever is being shown in the media is slowly being translated into truth.
The consequences of this “truth” are of numerous layers. The first of which being: ignorance breeds more ignorance and misunderstanding. We are at a time when the very mention of the word Islam or declaration of being Muslim is met with a certain degree of apprehension. The impression one gets from the media, is that the general consensus is moving towards the notion that Muslims cannot be trusted, and that Islam is a religion that breeds terrorists. Without the proper intervention, these types of attitudes will only multiply and serve as a foundation for many obstacles and hardships.
The second layer of consequence is the notion of collective guilt. Collective guilt is what is plaguing Muslims today. It is the idea that an individual is guilty because of their identity. That is to say, Muslims at large are repeatedly condemned for the actions committed by certain extreme individuals. This presumption of guilt imposed on the community subject Muslims to many stereotypes and leads to victimization. It also has a negative effect on the self esteem of the community as a whole.
Therefore to answer the question: Why ParadigmCafe? Now more than ever, Muslims are faced with the daunting task of overcoming the stereotypes and negative images portrayed of them in the media. ParadigmCafe is a forum that has emerged to address these challenges, and aims to dispel the myths, stereotypes, and misconceptions portrayed, by bringing forth the diverse personalities of individual Muslims.
