To Yasemin

Submitted by zella (United States), Apr 19, 2008 at 10:51

Try not to be too hard on yourself. Granted, you learned a lesson the hard way but at least you learned. Many people are not so lucky. I think one major error made by women from western countries is they are too trusting and they have no clue about the culture and religion. They have also been raised to believe they can change another person. My grandmother always told me that leopards do not change their spots, the spots just grow bigger as the leopard grows.

Unless a person has some insight about middle eastern culture and religion, he/she will always think in a "western" mode. There are so many great books on the market by educators and it is important to be armed with knowledge. Islam is a religion that is not by any stretch of the imagination pro-women and peace. It is a religion that has no tolerance for anyone who is not a Muslim.

The major problem is that culture and religion are tightly woven together as one. I think the primary question is, "How can a woman expect to be treated with dignity and respect if a man is raised to view women as property?" Perhaps 1 out of 10,000 relationships has a positive outcome and probably luck plays a major role with the 1. Just let all of your anger go (little by little) and remember that you are one of the intelligent women who learned a lesson before your spirit, self esteem, and entire life was destroyed. Good luck.

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