At some time non-specific in the last 48 hours, I was sitting at the airport watching people: one of my favourite activities. There was something really nice about seeing so many people express their faith through their dress. In Doha, the smorgasbord of traditional cultural and faith-based dress ranged from saris, hijabs, long white tunics worn with a taqiyah (a small pill-box-like hat worn by Muslim men), to flowing Bedouin gowns with keffiyehs wrapped like turbans. The airport lounge was full of people, expressing part of their inner state of being through meaningful sartorial splendor.

Every once in a while, a few people (often of European origin) in civilian clothing would dot this gathering of people with a special awkwardness. Maybe there was so much grace in the way people of faith moved that the pair of British (not that many Americans travel in the middle east?) tourists just seemed uneasy in contrast. The men in Bedouin gowns seemed to carry faith-laden and open hearts in their humble yet venerable chests, while the men in dri-fit hiking shirts seemed slouchy and often crossed their arms across their hearts. I'm sure I was just projecting my state of mind, but it almost seemed like they did not have enough faith inside them to keep their chests full.

It's important to believe, in whatever it is that one believes in and to be allowed to express it. It just seems such a shame to ban expression of faith because we have become so afraid of believing in false gods that we've stopped believing altogether.