As those letters were black on white, the colors of rainbow among us suddenly disappeared. It was all dark, plain and simple, you stand on one side of the white line and sooner or later you’ll lift your head up and face those eyes on the other side of the fence. It was like that STOP AND STARE moment, when you feel like your body’s there but your soul’s  floating above it all, up in the sky where no lines were drawn, no guilt was felt.  It’s fighting against all the differences, convincing other ghosts, proving, explaining, defending, blaming. It’s cruel, within seconds you make up your mind, no pressure taking over, nobody’s there: your family, friends, school, church, just you and your bear thoughts whether something’s wrong or right. Pure personal opinions fight in the air, with not enough time to explain, not enough brave to understand why.

“Women should be allowed to become Imams. “
Why is that  for some, a woman becoming Imam is a prove of adjusted Islamic rules to gender equality, while for others,  it’s a subject of sexual temptation in the most sacred hours of prayers? Why you can’t draw a line between freedom of choice and capital punishment?  And all of a sudden you start judging, how no TC’s seminars or educations, non-formal learning, neither games can open people’s eyes. Free their mind and feed their soul. You see shame, pride, guilt, respect all together.
“Religious schools should be eligible to receive public funding.”
Then you realize, there’s nothing personal about this questions and answers. From the moment when it all came to an end, the line was voided and everybody went back to their seats, the air became heavier to breathe, the time was ticking slower, the grins were lost and the exchanged words changed their previous melody. It was all changed. We all changed.
“A homosexual person has the right to be and call himself a Muslim.”
That moment there we realized that we all had some luggage, a heavy one, that we carry with us no matter where we go what we do or say.  It all came down to the religion after all. Name it the way you want, but that book you respect, in whose stories you believe, those rules you obey, that place where you pray… they gave the frame to your answers. The balance is within.
There are different  levels of identification of a single person. Gender, race, age, profession, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, political views, education… Answering to a simple question “Who/what am I?” you quietly adjust priorities in life… And for many religion is number one.
“The image of the prophet Muhammad with a bomb on his head is incitement to religious hatred and should be forbidden. “
So, should it?
END

Written by Aleksandra Stojanovska, participant of training course “ European Islam – Tradition, Cultural Diversity and Contemporary Challenges ” held in Pristina, Kosovo (22-29.10.2012) organized  by  “Blink” Kosovo …………
“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”