I was born in Washington, D.C. into a Pakistani Muslim family - much as I\'m fond of many of my relatives, I got the whole lot: scared women who played the victim to get what they wanted and blustering, inadequate, emotionally abusive men - all par for the course in the Muslim world. Couldn\'t talk to my male cousins after the age of 12 and when I moved out, my father asked me, \"Are you sleeping with your male friends to pay your rent?\" I converted to Catholicism to officially become an ex-Muslim rather than a lapsed one. Same deal: let me make you feel bad about yourself so I can have power over you. Don\'t think so, mate. Religion and I are through - treating people with love and acceptance belongs to people like us and organisations like Amnesty International, not religion. End rant - I usually am pretty laid back...honest...;)
\"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.\" ~Chief Seattle