Facing Their Fears

Dave did stay for the full 30 days and began to embrace Muslim culture. He wore traditional Muslim clothing, studied the Koran daily, spoke Arabic, grew a beard and ate Middle Eastern food.

At the end of his 30-day dare, Dave had a much different perspective about Islam. "Before, I never really knew anything about Islam and I really never had any thoughts of it. I got married, actually, on September 15, four days after 9/11. I just was so angry right after that event!" Dave admits. "It's a very shallow view: 'Muslims hate us. We hate them. Why don't we just nuke them?' There's never really any thought past that. Unfortunately, people that are so ignorant of the other faiths are often the ones that are most vocal about it."

Now, after essentially becoming a Muslim for 30 days, Dave has a new understanding of prejudice. "I've got a new appreciation for what it's like to be discriminated against," says Dave. "When I was in Michigan, it was strange because the white Americans there looked at me very differently [when I was dressed like a Muslim,] often with very mean looks on their faces. [Meanwhile,] the Muslim population was very, very distrustful of me. They thought I was part of some conspiracy to make them look bad."