Cross-cultural communication has been a source for not only knowledge sharing and mutual learning, but also conflicts, misunderstandings, and prejudices. In the modern world, the problem of Islamophobia has reached drastic levels, people belonging to the Muslim religion being oppressed based on their race and religion, as Jonathan Lyons explains (00:17:03). However, Lyons argues that the current interpretation of Islam beliefs in the western world has very little to do with the actual philosophy of this religion.
According to Lyons, the present-day views that Muslim people hold on the issue of religious tolerance, gender relationships, and science are significantly more advanced than how they are viewed by a vast number of American citizens.
The irrational fear of Muslim people is fuelled by the modern media, in which the idea of the war on terrorism is often misconstrued, with the image of a terrorist bearing the characteristics that describe Muslim people, in general. Therefore, instead of enhancing the levels of security and providing assistance to all people that need it no matter to what race or religion they belong, modern media tends to demonize the specified population (Lyons 00:34:19).
Due to the present-day misrepresentation of the image of Muslim people in the western media, the levels of Islamophobia have risen drastically. Therefore, to address the problem of rampant prejudices and Islamophobia in modern society, one needs to subvert the described stereotypes. By changing the western idea of Islam and subverting the stereotypes that perpetuate mutual enmity between the Islamic world and the western world, the latter has to accept the fact that the current representation of Muslim people is false, and that it needs to be replaced with an updated and more accurate portrayal of Islam.
Work Cited
Lyons, Jonathan. “Islam Through Western Eyes.” YouTube. Web.