A Talk With The Rev
A talk with The Rev By Taj Ashaheed The Denver Post - May 2006 I called my grandfather in Florida a couple weeks ago, just after his 90th birthday. I told him I would be down to see him soon. "Great!" he said, "And we can have that talk." I chuckled in agreement, despite the silent "Uh-oh" in my mind. "That talk" has been promised for quite some time. It is going to be about religion; more specifically, my religion. I am a Muslim convert and my grandfather, who we call "The Reverend" (or simply, "The Rev"), has spent much of his nine decades of life as a Baptist minister. My apprehension isn't so much from thinking that we will have a confrontation or that he will make some last-ditch effort to "save" me, as much as it is the challenge I face balancing respect for my elder and confronting misconceptions about my faith. I will have to share with him my own experiences with anti-Muslim anger, prejudice and bigotr