Misconceptions Corrected

http://compass.lssu.edu/content/view/13/28/

“MISCONCEPTIONS CORRECTED”

By: Aaron Kopitz
Staff Reporter

Last Monday Lake State’s Honor’s Program hosted the speaker, Dawud Walid, who is the executive director of CAIR Michigan (Council on American Islamic Relations). He came to Lake State to speak on the common misconceptions that Muslims and Islam face.


Admission was free and all were welcomed to attend. This event took place in the Arts Center’s auditorium, which can hold 674 people. 72 people attended; among those were some recognized faces like President Youngblood, Vice President Harger, Dr. Swedene and Dr. Pichot. This event had fierce competition with other events going on campus like the Student Government’s Presidential debate, the illusionist/mentalist Wayne Hoffman, and dinner. The presentation and discussion took place without intrusion or interruption except for the few students who left during the presentation. Overall the event was considered to be a success.


Mr. Walid presented the six misconceptions Muslims and Islam face. These misconceptions are: Islam is incompatible with Judeo-Christian values and democracy, Muslims do not believe in Jesus Christ, Arab and Muslim are synonymous, Jihad means holy war, top Muslim scholars have not denounced terrorism and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and lastly the Palestinian-Israeli conflict being a war between Islam and the Jewish religion.


Disillusioning these misconceptions was the goal for Monday evening and following Mr. Walid’s presentation were questions and answers. Few questions were asked; although those that were asked were either based on intrinsic goals, moral standpoints or questions based on hearsay that could finally be answered.


If a student or staff member was interested in viewing or hearing Monday’s speech they can request the video cassette in the Library which is held on reserve for anyone to view, or go to http://www.dawudwalid.blogspot.com/

Video of the event can be viewed at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/IslamicVideos22