I wrote about the less-than-flattering image of Pakistanis in India yesterday. Apparently, Islam’s image is taking even more of a battering in the blogosphere.

Now, I’m sure some of the mudslinging is justified. Being an atheist, I’m not too bothered by the finer theological slurs cast upon the religion of submission or its founder (I’m often found with muddy hands myself). But some of the commentary out there is just plain absurd. Here’s something I came across today — this (very) angry blogger is outraged at the supposed lack of aid for Katrina victims from Muslims and Muslim countries:

Muslim pricks only think of themselves and only donate to causes that help other muslims. They would rather shave their beards off then give money, time or expertise to help infidels. [link]

Yikes! Where do people get all this anger from anyway? Vitriol aside, I did initially believe the fundamental premise: that little or no aid would be forthcoming from Muslim countries.

A little research cleared my misconceptions. Foreign Policy ran a list of countries and the amounts they contributed for Katrina victims. The top three contributors are Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE: all Muslim countries. Saudi Arabia pledged as much as Canada ($5 million), and even Iraq and Afghanistan are listed ($1 million and $500,000 respectively).

The lesson? I don’t know if there is one. Except maybe that for a lot of us, prejudice trumps facts.