RaleighDevil
Well-known member
I also don't see the Amish crying to the UN about "defamation of religion."
That religion is way, way too big for them to be all lumped in together. You say Muslims like it's this street gang with a bad reputation. All the events you listed were perpetrated by splinter groups of extremists. When you hear about Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church pickiting funerals, do you just attribute that to "Christians"? No. Yet, people still keep attributing these acts of terrorism to a religion of over a billion people.
When the extremists elements of Christianity get powerful enough that people start censoring history to avoid inflamming "The Christian World", and extremist Christian groups take over 21st century sovereign governments and slaughtering people by the thousands, then why wouldn't I?
Because you're rational and educated, and not lazy and stupid, that's why you wouldn't. The same reason that African Americans in LA, NYC, or Cincinnati don't believe that every police officer they meet is going to beat or shoot them. The same reason that people in Oklahoma City don't believe that every white guy in a van is going to blow up a government building.
I also don't see the Amish crying to the UN about "defamation of religion."
That might be a fair point, but if an L.A. cop wonders why not everybody on Crenshaw Blvd. likes him on first encounter, should he blame the innocently accused person for being skeptical, or the prior officers who abused their authority? That's my point.
Muslim-Americans have a pretty tough task dealing with ignorant Americans. They're almost powerless to do anything about how they're perceived. They have a different problem than other racial and religious groups. Americans don't base their opinions of Jews solely on what's happening in Israel. They don't base their opinions of Mexicans based on what's happening in Mexico. They don't base their opinions of blacks based on Africa. Yet Muslim-Americans are primarily judged based on what happens in the Middle East, a region that is home to only 20% of Muslims. What's a guy living outside of Winston supposed to do about the public perception of his religion by people who are content to judge based on limited information?
And Muslims who are working to build better relations between Muslim-Americans and the larger American population have to endure enhanced security to get on planes if they can get on at all and people telling them they can't build mosques were they already live and worship. There's nothing they can do to combat these stereotypes. They're just living their lives.
Do Muslims even have a positive stereotype in the US? Every major ethnic group has both positive and negative stereotypes, and the positives are well earned. The Mexican is a hard worker, the black guy has my back if I'm ever in trouble, the Asian is great at mathmatics, the Jewish guy is a hell of a lawyer, the Pakistani guy knows how to run a gas station, Brazilian women have great butts, Mennonites bake yeast rolls that are better than crack, Jamacians have Red Stripe and spicy chicken and laugh whenever you say "hey mon", Indians cook a mean goat curry, etc. What positive attributes do the Muslims have? They need to find their niche, earn it, and play it for all its worth.
:rulz:
FIFY...You still agree with this?
Do Muslims even have a positive stereotype in the US? Every major ethnic group has both positive and negative stereotypes, and the positives are well earned. The Mexican is a hard worker, the black guy has my back if I'm ever in trouble, the Asian is great at mathmatics, the Jewish guy is a hell of a lawyer, the Pakistani guy knows how to run a gas station, Brazilian women have great butts, Mennonites bake yeast rolls that are better than crack, Jamacians have Red Stripe and spicy chicken and laugh whenever you say "hey mon", Indians cook a mean goat curry, etc. What positive attributes do the Muslims have? They need to find their niche, earn it, and play it for all its worth.
Were all right wing Christians subjected to this kind of prejudice after the Oklahoma City bombings?
Are you able to distinguish individual acts such as McVeigh and Kasczynski (sp?) from those of entire organizations issuing fatwahs and preaching widespread jihad? Are you unable to tell the vast difference in scope? Since you like data I suggest you print out a worldwide terrorist activity list for the last 25 years and then let me hear back from you.
Justifying bigotry...same act different place.
I think you helped make my point. It depends on what you see in the media. It's not like white people are called financial terrorists whenever there is an Enron type scandal. And if there was, people know plenty of white people to dispel the stereotype.
That's not true for Muslims. There's little they can do to combat negative stereotypes from a world away.
Shorty, I owe you two pos reps.
As long as a large percentage of Americans want to think and act like bigoted idiots toward Muslims, this guy has plenty of room to bitch about it. People need to stop using 9/11 as an excuse to stereotype 1.5 billion people.
This law student doesn't wonder why American's feel the way they do about Muslims. The question is why people attribute Islam with all the negative acts of Al Qaeda or the Taliban.