If I said that "Muslims lie," that was not what I intended to say, exactly. I thought I said "Middle Easterners lie."
Lying in court isn't uncommon, but this is above and beyond, it's something that astonishes the people I am talking about. It's like they aren't ashamed of lying. They lie when they don't have to lie. They lie even though it hurts their case.
Maybe it is what you call "social protocol." Maybe you can explain it to me so I can explain it to others.
As for it being prejudice -- Fairfax County has an extremely high percentage of recent immigrants from all over the world, not just the Middle East. Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, the Pacific. I bend over backwards to try to overcome any prejudice, but maybe that's impossible.
Nevertheless, it seems perverse to accuse me of singling out Middle Easterners. This is stuff that long predates 9/11. I started practicing in Fairfax in 1988. If I was going to be prejudiced, why would I pick out Middle Easterners for irrational ire? Compared to blacks and Hispanics and Asians, there are not all that many Middle Easterners.
When I helped represent the local taxicab drivers union, our secretary, who was incredibly liberal, loved people from all parts of the world, but hated Middle Easterners. We had a lot of African clients, Nigerians, Ethiopians, Eritreans, she loved them. We had Caribbean clients. She loved them. We had Indians and Sikhs. She loved them. We had Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese. She loved them.
She would tell me, "God help me, I just can't help myself, I can't stand these lying bastards."
Unlike her, I don't hate Middle Easterners. I just don't believe anything they tell me that I can't verify with my own eyes.
Actually, Middle Eastern women are generally trustworthy, I've found, they don't lie much more than anybody else. |
