Originally posted by GigaShadow
Instead of condemning the attacks - you attack me. Go figure... Your religion is the problem and you are a symptom of it. If you are so moderate where is your outrage over these attacks???? That should have been your first post here - instead you cry about me wanting to deport Muslims.
I also disagree with those in our government and country who say we shouldn\'t racially profile in regards to terrorism. The truth is if I am on a plane with someone of Arab decent I am going to watching them more closely than any of the other passengers. One would be a fool not to do so. It would be like the FBI watching black people for Mafia related activity. Absurd.
The Lord\'s Resistance Army in Uganda rapes, mutiliates, and massacres "in the name of God." The Ku Klux Klan uses Christianity to justify oppression and racism. The Salem Witch Trials and the Inquisition claimed the lives of many innocents under the guise of rooting out heresy.
"My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God\'s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter.
"In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was his fight against the Jewish poison."
-Adolph Hitler, in a speech delivered April 12, 1922 Published in "My New Order" Quoted in "Freethought Today" April 1990.
Do you see my point? All religions have extremists. This does not mean that the religions themselves are at fault. Whether it be Christianity or Islam, extremists merely skew religion to serve their own ends. Are we to eradicate Christianity and deport all Christians because of the lunacy of a few sick minds?
I do agree with you, Giga, in that Islam is MISGUIDED. However, Islam itself is NOT to blame. You forget that from the 7th to 11th centuries, the world saw one of history\'s greatest flowerings of art, science, and architecture under Islam. It was Muslim scholars who revived the works of the Greeks that later made the Renaissance possible. Intellectuals from distant lands gathered in Baghdad to study and discuss philosophy and medicine. Pick up a copy of
A Thousand and One Nights (though I have only read the abridged version myself) to read about the wonders of that city. And for a time, people of all religions were tolerated and women had many more rights than their European counterparts. I have read that in the Koran, Christ and his apostles are held in nearly the same positions of honor that they hold in the Bible and that Mary is revered as the highest woman to have ever lived. Clearly, Islam is capable of greatness and also shares many similarities with Christianity. The only reason why Islam is in the state it is now is because of a rise in fundamentalism that accompanied centuries of corruption, war, and economic stagnation. Actually, this should be a good read for you.
Here you go:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,564700,00.html I also agree with you, Giga, that it would be moronic to completely ignore Arabs. When I go to the airport and see Arabs in traditional garb, I can\'t help but feel apprehensive. As a possible victim of terrorism, I sometimes feel paranoid and helpless when I realize that future perpetrators may be my next door neighbors. What if I or my mother died of a terrorist attack? Would I still maintain this understanding if I were disabled because a zealot decided it would be right to take my life to further his misguided cause? But on the flip side, if I were Muslim, I would be overcome with sadness and anger if I were punished for the religious extremism of those completely unrelated to me. You say deport them all? Why go to that trouble? Why not hound them up and kill them? If American Muslims were deported to the Middle East, their likelihood of being free from misery, of being accepted into society, and even of holding on to their lives is small anyway. So yes, let\'s kill them all.
That would be the easy, but WRONG, way out. As I said before, not all Muslims are extremists. I don\'t claim to have many Muslim friends, but those I know from the hospital I volunteer in have all condemned the September 11 attacks and will surely condemn the London bombings. This country is founded on compromises, and we must not pander to one side of the spectrum. Yes, absolute deportation would greatly relieve the American mother who worries about her children being torn to bits by a Muslim suicidal attack. However, it would be unjust and greatly harm the many honest working Muslims in this country. Compromise and reconcile; as long as these extremists exist, Muslims will have to deal with being scrutinized, but Americans must also be willing to sympathize with the plight of victims on BOTH sides of the war.
