Blind Trust - Auburn University

by Dick Mac

Used without permission.

At the beginning of December, 2015, as anti-Muslim hate speech spread like wildfire across the United States, the Auburn Muslim Students Association (MSA), at Auburn University, decided to conduct an experiment of love, reconciliation, and humanity.

For an hour and a half, Basim Ismail, a member of MSA, stood blindfolded in the middle of campus, next to a sign that read, “I am Muslim and I trust you. Do you trust me enough for a hug?”

Given the tone of the day's rhetoric, and given that this campus is in Alabama, anything could have happened.  And it did.

Over the course of 90 minutes, about 100 people stopped to give Basim a hug.  There were no reports of violence or hostility.

Watching the video made me a bit weepy, especially when someone would walk past him, reading the sign as they hurried along, then stopped in their tracks, turned around and hugged.

What this means is that when people pause and think about a situation, instead of reacting in a fit of passion, we almost always do the right thing, we almost always choose love, acceptance, and kindness.




Let's all do the world a favor and pause for a moment, when we feel passionate about taking action against a particular group of people.  When we think about the reality of the situation, we know the right thing to do, and it is never to condemn and paint the entire group with a broad brushstroke.  We always choose acceptance, understanding, and compassion.

Choose love.

See, Blindfolded Muslim asks fellow Auburn students for hugs, here’s what happened next, at Yellow Hammer News.