Oracle Online

For instance, one member of the class is quoted as saying, “It is one thing to see stuff on TV or read about different cultural/religious practices in a book, but standing 10 feet away from seven men slaughtering a cow in the name of Allah is a mind opening experience.” The latter part of the sentence points to what seems like unusual violence on the part of seven men. Are the words not playing into the stereotype of gratuitous violence on the part of men of the Islamic faith? Was that all that the student really said or was the journalist and/or editors offering a condensed version of the story to fit the page? I am quite sure that decisions have to be made quickly by writers and editors each week about what to say and how to say it, but all parties need to be aware of cultural (mis)representations, even inadvertent ones. That is what learning about diversity is aboutčrespectful representation of cultural difference with a full knowledge of one’s audience.

We learned that the Eid where we saw the cow being sacrificed was Eid-ul-Adha (also known as Bakri-Eid in some places). The believers reenact the Biblical story of Abraham (Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition) whose faith was being tested when God asked him to sacrifice his son, but substituted a ram in his place when the sacrifice was about to happen. The goat or cow is sacrificed to reenact that Biblical event. And the faithful who offer the sacrifice distribute this meat to family, friends, and the poor in support of one of the pillars of Islam, charity. So people are not slaughtering cows just to be contrary, and our readers (especially since we are not all likely to know about Eid celebrations) need to be offered the full context for the sake of accuracy and respectful representation.
-Professor Veena Deo, English