I Don't Understand...
People are still alive that suffered through the Holocaust. How could our society have such a short memory?
A new Gallup poll finds that many Americans... harbor negative feelings or prejudices against people of the Muslim faith...
Almost four in ten, 39%, advocate that Muslims here should carry special I.D.
This sounds somewhat familiar. Oh, yeah, that's right...
People are still alive that suffered through the Holocaust. How could our society have such a short memory?
But, there is one glimmer of sense in the article...
In every case, Americans who actually know any Muslims are more sympathetic.
Bush administration scare-mongering at work, ladies and gentlemen. Any hint of truth shows it to be pure bullshit.
A new Gallup poll finds that many Americans... harbor negative feelings or prejudices against people of the Muslim faith...
Almost four in ten, 39%, advocate that Muslims here should carry special I.D.
This sounds somewhat familiar. Oh, yeah, that's right...
People are still alive that suffered through the Holocaust. How could our society have such a short memory?
But, there is one glimmer of sense in the article...
In every case, Americans who actually know any Muslims are more sympathetic.
Bush administration scare-mongering at work, ladies and gentlemen. Any hint of truth shows it to be pure bullshit.
posted by Dan Kachur at 11:56 PM
1 Comments:
Dan Kachur wrote: People are still alive that suffered through the Holocaust. How could our society have such a short memory?
Easy. People are a lot stupider than we want to believe. Ideally we would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but left alone and given the right opportunity, they've proven time and time again that they are willing to ignore the lessons of history in favor of repeating the same mistake over and over again.
Bush administration scare-mongering at work, ladies and gentlemen. Any hint of truth shows it to be pure bullshit.
I'd think it's due to scare-mongering in part perhaps, a small part. Realistic pessimism comprises the remaining balance in my opinion. I wouldn't be so quick to characterize their fear as "bullshit."
The Chicago Tribune did an excellent series on the subject of Islam titled: Struggle for the Soul of Islam.
A Quote from the editorial note that accompanies the series:
The radicals who stoke the fires of violence aren't many. But their influence extends far beyond their numbers. They form a magnetic field of militancy that threatens to pull the entire religion rightward.
Mainstream Muslim leaders insist they don't back their radical brethren. Nowhere in the Koran, Islam's holy book, these leaders say, is there any justification for the pageantry of terror that plays out in headlines nearly every day.
But the volume of these objections is hardly thunderous.
Part of the reason is fear. Muslims who speak out risk retaliation from radicals or ostracism from tightly knit Muslim communities.
The growing popularity of Islam should not be underestimated. Politically, culturally and spiritually, its increasing influence is felt in nations around the world. In some countries, radical Islamic groups deliver the health care, education and jobs often neglected by corrupt governments backed by generations of American administrations.
So, do most Muslims really hate America? Or does their tepid response to radicals stem from their resentment of America's unquestioning alliances with discredited Muslim leaders and with Israel, a nation despised in much of the Islamic world? And how can Islamic and Western cultures coexist?
That last paragraph is what the series attempts to address.
These two Articles: "Hard-liners won battle for Bridgeview mosque" and "A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America" illustrate the strong influence Radical Islam, as it is promoted by repressive middle eastern governments, exert on Islam within the United States.
I'd also like to refer to the editors note again, specifically where it addresses the "tepid response" of Islamic Moderates to the atrocities their radical cousins perpetrate, "...the volume of these objections is hardly thunderous".
That's also a strong reason for the "negative feelings" most americans harbor toward Islam. Silence toward the radicals barbarity equates with approval of their actions. And American's (even ignorant ones) can't be blamed for mistrust that stems from that silence.
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