As a professor of anthropology in the United States, I often begin my college lectures on Islamic culture by asking students to write three adjectives to describe Arabs. Most responses include the word terrorists, an association they see and hear in the media.

News stories, television shows and movies rarely show Arabs, Iranians, or other Muslims in a positive light. Casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes requires less character development, because the audience spontaneously associates the actor with their alleged traits.

But the media’s repetitious use of typecasting reinforces stereotypes, feeding an endless cycle of distortions. This is nothing new; movies and television shows have always relied on negative portrayals of minorities and other groups.

The press rarely reports stories about “Christian” extremists, “Catholic” terrorists, or “Protestant” fanatics, but regularly use the terms “Islamic” or “Muslim” as adjectives for terrorists.

It’s doubtful that many people in the United States know that Timothy McVeigh, the terrorist who blew up the Alfred P. Murrow Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, was Baptist. The explosion killed 168 people, but none of the news stories said “Baptist Bomber” Timothy McVeigh, perhaps because his faith was not a factor in the attack. Regardless of motives, had he been a Muslim, everyone would have known, because it would have received extensive coverage in the print and electronic media.

The mere mention of Islam tends to generate an immediate negative reaction from many people in the West who associate it with terrorism, hostages, and the explosive situation in the Middle East. The attack on the World Trade Center and the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian Territories tend to confirm Western suspicions. The image is clear, and so are the prejudices.

There are over 1 billion Muslims throughout the world who are not terrorists, stretching from Singapore to Nigeria and from the United States to the Central Asian republics. Radical terrorist groups may be of Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu persuasion. Their religion is irrelevant: first and foremost they are terrorists who often cloak their actions in a cause, sometimes adding the veil of nationalism or religion to justify their crimes. Most terrorists are self-serving thugs, more concerned about gaining power and influence than helping the people or the cause they supposedly represent.

Osama bin Laden and the late Saddam Hussein would occasionally link their barbaric behavior to the Palestinian cause in an effort to rally support among Muslims when their popularity was waning or to give after-the-fact legitimacy to wanton acts of violence. In reality, neither of them cared about the Palestinian people, who were merely convenient pawns to be used in the chess game of public opinion.

Bin Laden, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and similar rogues are bad Muslims, but Islam should not be tarnished by their misdeeds any more than Catholics should be associated with past terrorist acts of the Irish Republican Army.

The misunderstanding of Islam did not start with the attack on the World Trade Center, the fall of the shah of Iran, nor the first car bomb that exploded in Beirut. The religion has been misunderstood since its earliest beginnings when Muhammad was scorned by the Jewish and Christian communities he tried to convert.

The fall of Jerusalem to Islam in 638 A.D. and the subsequent exploits of the Crusaders between 1095 and 1291 escalated the level of mistrust and hostility between Christians and Muslims. Throughout Europe, the cry went out to drive out the “infidel,” despite the fact that Jerusalem is the third holiest city in Islam (after Mecca and Medina), and that sacred Christian shrines were also revered by Muslims.

Animosity understandably grew as Islamic armies swept through the Byzantine Empire, Spain, and Eastern Europe, twice being repelled at the gates of Vienna after violent battles with Christian forces in 1529 and 1683. During this period Muslims were depicted as sinister characters, capable of unspeakable deeds. Works by Dante, Voltaire, and other European writers extended this image over the centuries.

Arguably, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the same God, though each group calls its God by a different name. Muslims believe that God (Allah) chose messengers or prophets to communicate his word. These prophets, starting with Adam and ending with Muhammad, include the Judeo-Christian prophets Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. Muslims do not worship Muhammad, nor do they believe in the divinity of Jesus, Muhammad, or any of the prophets.

Islam is closer to Christianity than any other major religion, yet most Christians know very little about it. Many think of it as pagan, strange, or exotic. Misconceptions continue, in part, because many Muslims dress, act, or talk differently than Christians in the West. Muslims, like Christians, come from a cross-section of races, cultures, and nationalities.

Over 40 countries have Muslim majorities; dozens more have significant Muslim populations ranging from 100,000 to 140 million. Islam is associated with Arabs and the Middle East, though Arabs account for only 20 percent of its followers, and in ranking order the three largest Islamic countries are Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

About 90 percent of Muslims are of the Sunni sect. The Shi’a, who account for about 10 percent of Muslims, are concentrated in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Lebanon. There are also sizeable minorities of Shi’a living in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Yemen, Turkey and other countries. The schism between Sunni and Shi’a increased to the point that they often see each other as separate religions, rather than distinct sects within Islam.

The emergence of the extreme fundamentalist government of the Ayatollah Khomeini following the capitulation of the shah of Iran in 1979 caused a resurgence of hostility toward Islam in the West that has continued through the current leadership of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The revolution in Iran was unique, as Shi’a religious leaders have traditionally held a political role that is generally absent among their Sunni counterparts.

Arab values are significantly different than Western stereotypes. Arabs consider hospitality, generosity, good manners, loyalty, honor, reputation, respect for elders, love of children and unconditional support of family and friends to be essential traits. These ideals are shared by the collectivist cultures of Africa, Asia and the Middle East that focus on the group: the nuclear and extended family, friends and coworkers, community and nation.

While all of these virtuous qualities are esteemed in Western culture as well, the degree of their influence is far less than in collectivist cultures. Western cultures are individualistic, with an all-consuming focus on self.

One can travel through the countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East and never feel like a stranger, thanks to the hospitality and kindness of the people. These traits are programmed from birth through enculturation, the process by which a society transmits culture from one generation to the next. The needs of others are deemed more important than the desires of the individual.

Muslims would like to see a more balanced and realistic depiction of themselves in Western media that includes positive aspects of their culture. The media has tremendous power to influence public opinion, shaping hearts and minds.

In the interest of breaking down the barriers of prejudice, it is time that Hollywood and other movie studios modify their use of distorted stereotypes and that the Western press, politicians, and public stop thinking of Islamic as another word for terrorism.

Professor James Emery is an anthropologist and journalist who has traveled extensively around the world conducting research and interviews. He lectures on Afghan and Arab culture, cross-cultural communication, and other topics.  Reprinted from the Middle East Times, June 17, 2008.