Hello, I think what I was trying to say can best be summed up in the
following phrase:  "Take what is good, and leave the rest".  What I meant to
say is that as a whole, whatever culture we come from, it is not neccessary
to abadon the whole of that culture when we become Muslim, or as born
Muslims if a person was born a Muslim.  But as a Muslim, if you are striving
to follow and practice Islam, you should leave the aspects of your culture
which goes against Islam.  And this can be said for a person who's American,
African, European, or even Arab.

     The problem is, and this is from my perspective, people who enter Islam
mistakenly believe that they have to lose their Americanness or AFricannes
or whatever.  What should be remembered I think, is that the early Muslims
came from many different backgrounds, and I think this lends itself to
Islam's appeal to many different groups of people, and also to Islam's
universality.

     I'd sure like to know more about this "jihadist violence" which
suppoedly forced people into Islam.

Ginny

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