America has a lot of pride and self-confidence. We just
know we're the best country in the world, because: freedom. We look at ourselves as that gleaming beacon on the hill, an example set for the rest of the world to follow. We admire self-reliance and eschew government dependence. We consider ourselves to be just and moral.
Most Americans had only a superficial familiarity with Islam prior to 9/11. The Middle East was very far away, and we thought of it in a more abstract way. It was only after the day we were attacked on our own soil did we strive to educate ourselves. What we held onto was all of the those things common to the religion and culture that were alien to us. We looked down our noses at them like they were savages. They made their women wear burqas, they bombed those who didn't believe their religion, they were positively medieval when it came to torture and execution.
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