There Goes The Neighborhood

      When two different societies meet, especially if for the first time, there is likely to be some tension. A long-continuing and very complicated example of this so called clash of civilizations, is between the Muslim world and the West. These groups have always been very different. Of course to humans, different = bad  so, what better way to solve your differences than by violence? Conflicts between the two groups have persisted even since the Crusades in the middle ages. The most obvious example in modern day would be terrorism caused by extremist Muslims. The basics of this complicated situation is that the minority extremists hate how America and the west have almost the opposite values of strict Islam. The word Islam is said to mean peace, submission, or obedience; or some combination of those words. Contrastingly, the west is about freedom, expression, equality between men & women, etc. Sometimes rumors are taught, that are usually completely untrue, that worsen the situation. The book Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, describes parts of her childhood growing up as a Muslim in Africa. She says how everyone in her class "was convinced that there was an evil worldwide crusade aimed at eradicating Islam, directed by the Jews and the whole Godless West." On the other side, some Americans think that all Muslims are like the extremists and that they are all violent. There's been discrimination against them, like opposition to the mosque near ground zero, and other situations. One big, but not so simple, step to lessen tensions could be to clear up these extreme misunderstandings.