A friend of mine who’s been single for a long time got a boyfriend over break. He graduated from Binghamton last year, is an accountant with a great firm and is one of the nicest guys I know. He’s a great catch, but there’s a catch in their relationship nonetheless. She’s not allowed to date him.

Her parents have forbidden her to see him anymore because he’s Muslim. They’ve even warned her that if she continues to see him, they’re going to cut her off financially and take her out of school. Her older sister even called her and told her that she can’t be the maid of honor at her wedding. Her situation is sad and frustrating and has been a real shock to me.

I can’t believe that her own family can say this to her, but I also can’t believe that, in our age of education and political-correctness, there could be such ignorance and closed-mindedness. It may be naive of me to think, but I thought that Americans of any culture could understand and appreciate the diversity of their country’s citizens.

In the ’50s, everyone would have frowned upon a white person and a black person dating, and how ridiculous does that sound to us now? Call me a crazy and godless liberal, but maybe people should be allowed to date whomever they want. Not only is it ridiculous to try to stop it, but also ineffectual.

My friend has told me that her parents’ anger and bigotry has brought her closer to her boyfriend and further away from her parents. Condemning people to not see those they love can only bring them closer together. Romeo and Juliet, the most passionate love story there is, was a forbidden romance after all.

We know now (or should have learned by now) that sometimes two random people make a connection, and once that happens it can be the most powerful thing in the world. It can transcend any type of socially-constructed boundary like money, politics, gender and culture. It is a force to be reckoned with, and I personally don’t understand why anyone would get in its way.

It’s so sad that my friend’s parents can be more tied to their own prejudiced beliefs than the happiness of their own daughter. It’s sad that people judge others based on skin color or religious affiliation before they get to know them.

And lastly, I do feel sad for my friend’s parents, because not only are they blinded by their own small-minded thinking, they’re so blind that they can’t even see how sad they’re making their own daughter.

Micol Zweig is a junior English major. The assistant opinion editor feels that these people need more beerfests in their lives.