http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/11/backlash-in-california-muslim-at-mall-kiosk-tears-crucifix-from-shoppers-neck-shouts-allah-is-power.html

check this one out

Guys,, there are two opinion pieces in the Loudoun Times for everyone’s perusal. They’re very well put, and they difuse anti-muslim sentiment for all but the most bigoted among us.

jacob, search for “Muslim”.

I felt the same way about the letters Dan. In particular the second letter that inclined that Hasan may have just gone crazy, perhaps due to harrassment. It was an unnecessary comment.

Why does it tell you more about me?? You read it too, so you must be guilty by that very act.
Where the hell do you get your assumption, peckerwood? I merely read it and directed attention to it. I NEVEr indicated that I worshipped at it.
And you wonder why some think you are a humorless bigot with an axe to grind. I began to believe that you just might be one, after this read based on how you felt I believed.

Monk, I think we’ve gotten into this discussion before. You know where I stand personally on this issue, since I previously explained my own life experiences living among and working side by side with Muslims.

Tolerance is a somewhat strange thing. It can be preached in quiet times quite easily; but, when the going gets tough, when innocent blood flows, when people are badly hurt and become angry, the preaching of tolerance often falls on fallow ground. It takes every bit of strength we have within us to refrain from leaving the good and falling into the dark side of extreme anger and thirst for revenge. Sometimes we just cannot help but strike out blindly. It is human nature. Always has been.

I try my utmost to practice tolerance, and I have plenty of personal reasons for doing so. But, I always have to ask myself if I could succeed in that battle if the losses had touched me even more than they did — if, for instance, I had lost a son or daughter in the Twin Towers or on Pan Am 103 or at Fort Hood. I lost friends in that way, and that hurt quite enough. I cannot vouch for my feelings if something like that hit me much closer to home. Death on the battlefield I can take. Death for no reason I cannot.

And, quite frankly, I think many Americans have reached a point where they are susceptible to a transference of that anger and thirst for revenge, even if they themselves did not suffer a personal loss. Indeed, the speed and clarity of modern communications sometimes serves to make every loss almost personal, for we see pictures of the dead and wounded and fear that someone we love could be next. We see our own kind being cut down for no other reason than that they lived and were themselves. This fear never seems to end. It erodes the good side of our nature and bolsters the dark side, even when we fight as hard as we can to not let that happen.

Monk, you can preach tolerance to Americans as much as you want and you will be absolutely right in your cause. But the time has come for the other side to realize that they do, indeed, have a part in all this and that someone, somehow had better stop this senseless loss of life. They may not have done the deed themselves and they may never have even contemplated doing the deed. But, when the guy who did do that deed dresses like them, talks their language, and kneels before his God in the same religious edifice as they, eventually a form of moral duty falls upon them which extends far beyond words of solace and assurances of their own personal goodwill. There comes a time when they, as well as those being attacked, have to assume a direct role in ending this horror — for their own sake as well as that of the harmed.

If they do not do this and if those who are hurt begin to leave the good and fall into the dark side, they will no longer be able to claim injustice. There is a point when you also have to take up the struggle to give true tolerance a chance. You cannot be a bystander claiming only innocence and expecting to be protected from revenge if you make no effort to stop the assault on those who suffer. I know that that can sometimes be a fearful undertaking. But they are needed, or we all will lose. And tolerance will be lost most of all.

I have heard some of things I wanted to hear of late from a few imams and a few Muslim leaders, but this chorus must become a crescendo of great magnitude both here and abroad, or I am afraid that tolerance may be in a losing battle.

I referred you (and the audience) to the letters. I never touted them as the end all.
They were injected into the discussion as fodder. I meant only for them to be disected, which you did. I never ENDORSED them as my personal reflection on the matter.

If you and your merry band here want to maintain a majority in coming elections, you’d best reach out to the Tito Munoz and David Ramadan’s of our party. They’re trying to establish a counter-culture in the ethnic groups that invites the conservative elements of these groups to fight beside us…not against us. You cannot lump all of these elements into one convienant wrapper…lest you overlook those that believe as you do.

Wolve, your point is excellent above. We concur. I want…I NEED …more of these folks to stand up and denounce the attacks by their fellow muslims. But alot of what I’ve seen here by Jacob is parsing words he wants to see in print, and not looking at the overall piece. Kinda like trying to describe how to assemble a product, and shaking your head at the written instructions. It’s sometimes just the way one interprets what is printed….using the reader’s own bias.

I know Jacob and he is not a bigot. I know Monk too and he is one hard working man. I also know David Ramadan and have corresponded with Debbie and Tito Munoz, all 3 are doing important work. I fully admit that our party needs to do a better job of reaching out to minority groups. There are natural alliances that we (as a party) fail to nuture – time and again.

That doesn’t mean that we give into politically correct bull though. If you overlook stmts like “Hasan may have just gone crazy because he was harrassed” then you are putting us all in danger.

Big Picture vs dangerous stmts.

As always, Thanks for your remarks Wolv. They are a pleasure to read on a rainy Friday afternoon.

Well, Wolv…when you put it like that.
We concur. I worked with the Muslims for a number of years, and most of those I worked with aren’t wired like Americans (Read “Cowboys” here). They’re much more timid. It’s a cultural thing.
You and I think they should stand up and denounce those among them who do think that way. They have been raised strictly, and in their country of origin, speaking out against the actions of the radicals was a death sentence.
I’ve tested high for a particular lack of Western Ego-cetric thought patterns, so take that into account when I respond.

Monk, let me add something to this because you may be among the few who can really understand it. I once worked against a relentless terrorist group which targeted Americans as well as high-ranking personages in their own society. Envision this. A murdered American lying in the street. The average local Joe passes by, sees the carnage, wipes the sweat from his brow, and tries to get out of there before the police might approach him as a possible witness. Fear and horror all mixed into one.

The attitude of that average Joe is this: “They’ve killed an American again. So sad. This is terrible But, thank God, they aren’t after us.” And then he walks on and disappears, along with any possibility that he might provide something of value to the counterterrorist police.

You can understand that attitude when you are in a situation and in a culture like that and you can try to find ways to work around it. But if we continue to buy into a parallel attitude on our home ground, we are going to regret it. Being granted the privilege of living in America carries a set of responsibilities with it, and no one should be let off the hook.