Pride and prejudice we are

When the news that Osama bin Laden (OBL) was executed; I say executed because of the revised report from the US government that OBL was unarmed but resisted arrest, by the Americans, I put up a picture of OBL with a caption that says OSAMA HAS BIN LADEN (see above). I published it in my Tumblr account, my Blogspot and made it my profile picture at Facebook.

I was elated at how people reacted to the picture. Some were amazed. Some were not. But majority were not happy because they believed I supported the terrorist- without taking into consideration what I have put in that picture.

This made me realize that people do not really go beyond their biases. For them, no matter what the caption was, their first impression on me was I am an Osama follower. Because I have an OBL picture. And I happily rode with their prejudices out of sheer fun.

One even posted at Facebook- I noticed that you had Laden's pic on your profile. Does that make you a good Muslim? Just to remind you, majority of Islamic world has condemned actions that Laden did. Not to mention "infidels" that you might refer to and still you seem to kinda justify Laden and his side.

Another said- I won't be sharing with you... until you changed your profile pic.

Jane Austen aptly wrote in Pride and Prejudice- The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.

(Most of those who reacted negatively were Americans and Filipinos living in the US.)