When I remember driving past the Islamic center near my neighborhood back home, I fondly recall how the only complaint my Christian neighbors had about the large meetings on Friday afternoons was how the Muslims packed the side streets with their parked cars. Nowadays, I’m more often disturbed by the fact that every time I used to drive past the building, I had absolutely no idea what went on inside its walls.

Apparently, I’m not alone. A Washington Post poll taken this summer reported that about one- quarter of Americans view Muslims negatively and that one-third of Americans respond with a “negative image” when they hear the word “Muslim.”

Before we begin harping about the rampant anti-Islamic movement in this country, it is always important to remember in such polls what exactly a “negative” view might be.

The word “negative” could encompass anything from mere discomfort to outright hatred. Unfortunately, outright hatred isn’t rare — in the same poll, 29 percent of people questioned believed the war in Iraq was justified because it was Muslims in general who attacked us on Sept. 11.

Although polls such as this one are recent, they certainly reveal nothing new. The frictions between the West and the Middle East are deep, growing and complicated. This great divide is demonstrated with mounting terrorist attacks from the Palestinians against Israel (and Israel’s brutal retaliations), to the attacks of Sept. 11, the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq. There have even been incidents here on campus.

It is clear that in order to stem hatred and fundamentalism, we must have an all-out war against ignorance and cultural hatred. But no government can provide this knowledge; it is a task that must be taken personally by Christians and Muslims alike.

New technology might be a great way to begin bridging the gaps between the two cultures, but, instead of fostering communication, our media seem able to best spread horror. Al-Jazeera plasters images of innocent Iraqis killed by American bombs even as Western news sources broadcast videos of live executions. The resulting palpable hatred simmers beneath the surface on both sides.

This problem began long before Sept. 11 and Iraq and has as much to do with open war as simply to what degree we acknowledge the other’s culture. As Westerners, we are willfully ignorant of the Islamic faith and the various cultures the faith encompasses. Too often, we are culturally indoctrinated that the differences between a Muslim and a Christian are so vast that any attempt at real communication or understanding is futile and that both cultures should separate and watch each other from respective borders.

Not necessarily at war, but not co-existing, either.

Take that Islamic center by my old house, for example. Not only was it just outside my very neighborhood, I actually knew kids in high school who went there every Friday who also happened to live in my neighborhood. But did I bother to find out anything about them?

Our ignorance is terrorizing Americans right here in our own cities and towns. Acts of discrimination and violence against American Muslims went up 70 percent from 2002 to 2003.

I don’t need to reiterate what is at stake if this kind of ignorance is allowed to run rampant. It is not very difficult to become informed, and in my own little way, I’ve tried to learn more.

This summer, I read a translation of the Quran because I realized one day I knew absolutely nothing about the actual faith of Islam itself, even though it is the second-largest religion in the world and growing fast.

If so many people are willing to live and die for one thing, I had better at least know where they are coming from. After all, they are probably living just down the street.