This was really bothering me since I always try not to judge people before I know them well. So then I just tried to take it easy and I tried to chase away every single stigma on my head about the blacks. Gradually, I started to get along well with my black friends, and it was kind of awkward at the first time to adapt with their behavior. For example, I was a bit bothered whenever they talk loudly. And I was feeling awkward when they sing and dance a lot in every party we were involved--it was just too festive for me.

But the more I hang out with my black friends, the more I love them dearly. Nigerians, Kenyans, Senegalese, all of them are like my family. I found out that they are very fun people to go hang out with. Many of them ...whom I know are hard workers, and many black students in my school are very good in sport teams and they are also bright scholars. Last time I visited a black church and a black mosque in Ohio, it was really fun and engaging. The people were so humble and welcoming. They hug and smile a lot. They made sure every thing makes me feel comfortable. They treated me well. And oh….again… They sang a lot, too!

My love upon them makes me love their culture too. Today I love to listen to rap, jazz, blues, and gospel music genres. I start to try some hip-hop dance too. Sometimes, I can speak in black accent. Some people think I am already “blackenized”, but I do not really care. It is fun, you know, and I enjoy it. And I love the blacks as they are my family. Whenever there is a person who looks down upon them, or talks about them badly with prejudice, I will fight back and defend the blacks. I will not let any body judges all black people by only witnessing a few samples of the blacks. I am so different now compare to the time before I met the blacks. Now I know that I have already changed.

The same thing also happened with my perspective towards my host father, who is a Jewish. I used to think that all Jewish are the same. I thought they all hate the Muslims. But what I thought was not matching with what I saw. I found out that my host father is a veeery nice man. Since the first day I live with him, I have never seen any time he did an unkind thing to people. In fact, I think he is a very loving man. I was so amazed, when he told me that he decided to become a vegetarian when he was 12 years old, because he does not believe in killing any thing, including any animals. He likes to help out the homeless people by volunteering, and he donates money through some organizations. He is very religious too. He goes to the synagogue every twice in a week, and sometimes I go with him there too. From there, I met a lot more Jewish too. I have to tell you, that they are all nice and welcoming individuals.

And even in my school and my neighborhood, I met a lot of Jewish friends. Compare to when I was in Indonesia, I had NONE. Here, I have to tell you, that my Jewish friends are very nice people. Seriously. I get along with them well, even with those who are really religious. When it comes to Jewish holidays, it is always a common thing to say happy holiday to each other in my school. And I know I have to be careful whenever I talk about Holocaust, because they are very sensitive with that. But sometimes, it is hard actually to position myself when they start talking about Israel—that they love Israel, that they want to visit it, that they want to go to the college there, that they want to learn the Hebrew language there, etc. I mean, I could not hide my face that I know there is a huge conflict in Israel between their religion and mine. I do not want to blame them that they are rude to talk about Israel with a Muslim like me. I understand it is a common thing for them to talk about it to people, since they have been living and grew up in a huge Jewish community. But to me…? I was so sensitive and overwhelmed, as I was not used to with Jewish people, and all this stuff was totally new for me.

But later on, as time passed through, I get used to with this kind of talk. The cooler I respond to them, the more opinions and perspective they shared to me. And it is just amazing the way all of it combined and makes me realize what caused the conflict in Israel-Palestine. The oldest Jewish temple in the world, and the Al-Aqsa mosque which is the second biggest Islamic center after Ka’bah, are located in Jerussalem. Also, Jesus Christ was born there. How would you prevent any conflict if there only be one place for three strict groups of people? Well, the Christians seem are not having a problem as big as what the Muslims and the Jewish have. But on the other hand, many Muslims and Jewish people all around the world start to condemn each other of what is happening in Israel-Palestine. More people tend to condemn Israel for starting killing the Muslims in chasing the Muslims away, and for taking over the Muslims’ territory. But then, when the Muslims got real angry, some of them started to scream..."Kill the Jewish! Kill the Jewish!" and threatened people with bombs. Many people turned not to support Muslims since they are considered very violent.

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However, I still found out here in United States that some Jewish people do not support the killing of Muslims for the sake of Israelis. They just support a fair division of territory as long as the Jewish and the Muslims can live peacefully in the same place. In analogical way, this "anti-war" kind of people is just like myself. I mean, they believe in what Jew taught them, but they do not believe in killing the Muslims in order to own their so-called “Holy Land” in Jerussalem. I am also a Muslim. But I hate those people who claimed that they are Muslims too, while they are bombing and terrorizing people and committing murder upon the Jewish people. Why would they say that they are Muslim and obedient to God, while they are not even respecting and loving God’s creatures? And why would people say that they are Jewish and dedicative to God, if they kill the Muslims and take over the land in a rude way? And also, WHY did Mr. Bush once use the name of God to excuse his invasion in Irak?

Religions are supposed to be a mean of turning the world into peace. But these bad and irresponsible people, made the reputation of religions filthy. That is why nowadays, there are more and more liberal people who turn to not believing in any religion, because they think religions are the main cause of all chaos in the world. While in fact, I strongly believe that it is not a matter of the religions’ taught, but the people who misuse the religions instead.

All in all, right now I believe in peaceful diversity, because I have been experiencing it within these recent 8 months. I have been living with a practicing Jewish father, and a practicing Catholic mother, while I myself is a covered Muslim.... and all of us have proven that 3 religions can live together peacefully even in a family. And I believe, diversity will not be a problem if we can face it wisely. God has created a diverse world so that we can learn to understand and respect each other. Being religious means fondly praying to God, and dearly doing good deeds upon God’s creatures. Being religious is totally not rude, as long as we can position ourselves not to offend other religions. In contrast, being stereotypical and offensive to other groups or religions is considered very rude and dirty. It is all your choice to be what you want to be. But at least now you know which one is good, and which one is bad to choose. Which one might change the world, and which one will remain the world in the never-ending wars and everlasting sufferings…