Of All The Reasons For A Cause To Give You Pause
(I work at a call center for a cancer charity. I generally speak to donors and volunteers that are very supportive of our mission.)
Me: “Hello, my name is [name]. Thank you for calling—”
Caller: “Are you a Muslim organization?”
Me: “Uh, no we are not.”
Caller: “Are you some kind of terrorist?”
Me: “No, of course not.”
Caller: “Well, I saw the bumper-sticker for your event, and it uses that d*** Muslim symbol with the moon and star.”
Me: “Oh… I can see why you might misunderstand. There is some similarity between the Muslim star and crescent, and the logo we use for our fundraising events. See, the event is a relay that goes on for 24 hours. It has a sun, moon, and star to symbolize that the fight against cancer goes on, day and night.”
Caller: “Where’d you get the idea for that!?”
Me: “The… sky?”
Caller: “I bet you have Muslims in your organization!”
Me: “Well, we do not discriminate on the basis of creed or race, and we are quite a large organization. I assume we do have some Muslims.”
Caller: “Well… you shouldn’t use that d*** Muslim symbol! You’re confusing people!”