This event was a record promotion for Irshad Manji’s book “Don’t Label Me”. I had never heard of Irshad Manji before but a key phrase of her book, “diversity without inflaming the culture wars” really intrigued me. “Culture wars'' are basically conflicts between groups with differing views, essentially polarization. I think these “culture wars” are a major reason for why issues in the United States and in the world in general have not been resolved. Of course, there are some issues which may never be solved just because of different thoughts and not being able to compromise with that. However, Irshad Manji isn’t saying that if we overcome this polarization, that the world will be perfect. First, it is impossible to overcome the polarization and second, she isn’t advocating for her thoughts to be the only correct way. She is advocating for respect and understanding during these important conversations or debates. Manji started the conversation with an anecdote about her experience in an Islamic school and her lack of compatibility with it. Many would believe, just like her teacher did, that if she wasn’t compatible with the school’s teaching, she isn’t compatible with the Islamic religion. But with her Manji’s mother’s respect and trust in her, Manji quit the school and spent her time in the library where she did come to understand Islam and still follows it today. This shows that even though she didn’t agree with the traditional way, she still ended up with the same end result as one would if they attended the Islamic school. She notes that oftentimes disagreeing with one can be seen as an attack on their identity causing miscommunication and lack of progress in the conversation. I think that it is important to understand this concept when thinking about global issues because they aren’t as black and white as one would think. It is important to have respect and understanding during the conversation in order truly allow for diversity in thought.