Can't imagine...

Vedderlution_Baby

What it must be like to be a non radical muslim that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the radicals running making a bad name for the entire population of the muslim world.

even flow?

I work with some of them. Maybe I will try and get them on to the board and you can read what they have to say. Although when we go for walks I always walk behind them and always listen to see if I can hear any ticking from under their clothes before that said walk goes down. Once they have cleared my version of airport security, I feel safe enough to trust them. For a little while.

Derrick

I can't imagine what it must be like to be a non radical Christian that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the US Armed Forces running making a bad name for the entire population of the Christian world.

jlew24asu

Derrick wrote:

I can't imagine what it must be like to be a non radical Christian that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the US Armed Forces running making a bad name for the entire population of the Christian world.

well arent you clever.

Pickr

I have had many talks with one guy in particular...He left his country for a better life, he follows the Muslim faith to an extreme in my opinion, I mean hard core straight edge...no drinking, drugs, guy doesn't even swear...He hasn't had many bad encounters yet here, but he knows there are judgements made about him...He in no way condones what is happening in the middle east or the actions of his people, he also in no way condones the interference of the west....

His cousin is a different story, that guy was the shit...we could joke about anything, we had nicknames...he was Jihad Johnny and I was Infadel, he always joked about being a terrorist, but he was actually just a Leaf fan.

rebornFixer

Derrick wrote:

I can't imagine what it must be like to be a non radical Christian that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the US Armed Forces running making a bad name for the entire population of the Christian world.

Just agreeing with his point wouldn't have been too much to expect, eh? He basically said that moderate Muslims must be pretty upset about this situation. You have an issue with that, apparently?
Seems like a fair argument to me.

hippiemom

It's gotta be tough. I have a couple of Muslim friends, one of them is extremely devout (does the whole 5 times a day prayer thing, scrupulously observes all rituals and customs ... the others I know aren't quite this extreme), and all of them, even the ultra-devout one, are very open-minded about other cultures. In fact, there is nothing Mahmoud (Mr. Super Muslim) would rather discuss. He's fascinated by Christian rituals, and totally dumbfounded by me not believing in god at all, but he's extremely respectful and never judgmental at all, and has never once tried to change my mind about anything. He's profoundly embarrassed every time something like this or the cartoon thing is in the news and goes out of his way to explain what he believes the true Islamic position on these things should be, and violence is never part of it. He says that Islam brings him great joy and peace (he truly is one of the happiest people I've met) and that he believes if people see this they may be called to his religion ... that's the extent of his prolytizing, just being an example, which is also the path the finer Christians I know follow.

The other Muslim family that I'm fairly close to is much less devout, even though they are fairly recent immigrants (they moved here from Kuwait during Gulf One) ... they wear western dress, go to the mosque weekly instead of daily, and mom is unquestionably the head of the household. Their response to all this has been mainly fear. There was some anti-Arab violence here right after 9/11 and they worry about a resurgence of that, and of course they worry about traveling, about being suspected of wrongdoing, etc. They too say that all these calls for violence have nothing to do with the religion they practice and they're worried that they'll pay some sort of price for all the bad press they're getting.

hippiemom

Derrick wrote:

I can't imagine what it must be like to be a non radical Christian that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the US Armed Forces running making a bad name for the entire population of the Christian world.

I'm certainly no fan of what the U.S. armed forces are up to, but they're claiming to be spreading freedom, not Christianity. It's bullshit, of course, but they fight under a U.S. flag, not a cross. Nothing that they do is being done in the name of religion, so I don't see any need to bring Christianity into it.

Now, if you want to talk about being embarrassed to be an American of any faith (or no faith at all) with the way this administration is behaving, I'm with ya on that.

rebornFixer

hippiemom wrote:

It's gotta be tough. I have a couple of Muslim friends, one of them is extremely devout (does the whole 5 times a day prayer thing, scrupulously observes all rituals and customs ... the others I know aren't quite this extreme), and all of them, even the ultra-devout one, are very open-minded about other cultures. In fact, there is nothing Mahmoud (Mr. Super Muslim) would rather discuss. He's fascinated by Christian rituals, and totally dumbfounded by me not believing in god at all, but he's extremely respectful and never judgmental at all, and has never once tried to change my mind about anything. He's profoundly embarrassed every time something like this or the cartoon thing is in the news and goes out of his way to explain what he believes the true Islamic position on these things should be, and violence is never part of it. He says that Islam brings him great joy and peace (he truly is one of the happiest people I've met) and that he believes if people see this they may be called to his religion ... that's the extent of his prolytizing, just being an example, which is also the path the finer Christians I know follow.

The other Muslim family that I'm fairly close to is much less devout, even though they are fairly recent immigrants (they moved here from Kuwait during Gulf One) ... they wear western dress, go to the mosque weekly instead of daily, and mom is unquestionably the head of the household. Their response to all this has been mainly fear. There was some anti-Arab violence here right after 9/11 and they worry about a resurgence of that, and of course they worry about traveling, about being suspected of wrongdoing, etc. They too say that all these calls for violence have nothing to do with the religion they practice and they're worried that they'll pay some sort of price for all the bad press they're getting.

Thanks for that read, hippiemom. The anecdote about the first guy makes me feel better about humanity ... And I feel bad for the second family.

cornnifer

hippiemom wrote:

I'm certainly no fan of what the U.S. armed forces are up to, but they're claiming to be spreading freedom, not Christianity. It's bullshit, of course, but they fight under a U.S. flag, not a cross. Nothing that they do is being done in the name of religion, so I don't see any need to bring Christianity into it.

Now, if you want to talk about being embarrassed to be an American of any faith (or no faith at all) with the way this administration is behaving, I'm with ya on that.

Thank You!! Thank you!!

...and you are right. its a bit embarrassing and more than just a little disturbing.

Collin

I know quite a few Muslims, but I only have three Muslim I can actually call friends and I can tell it's hard for them. Not only do they have to defend their religion almost on a daily basis, they have to deal with racism too.
One of them has a little brother that was beaten up severely because "people don't want no terrorists here".
One of my friend's mother was asked if she could "understand our language (Dutch) because you never know with you people." She speaks Dutch, French, English and Arabic, all fluently.

rebornFixer

Collin wrote:

I know quite a few Muslims, but I only have three Muslim I can actually call friends and I can tell it's hard for them. Not only do they have to defend their religion almost on a daily basis, they have to deal with racism too.
One of them has a little brother that was beaten up severely because "people don't want no terrorists here".
One of my friend's mother was asked if she could "understand our language (Dutch) because you never know with you people." She speaks Dutch, French, English and Arabic, all fluently.

I think getting beat up because of what you look like is a pretty clear example of racism ... I don't know why the language question was such a big deal, though. How are people supposed to know that she speaks four languages?

Collin

reborncareerist wrote:

I think getting beat up because of what you look like is a pretty clear example of racism ... I don't know why the language question was such a big deal, though. How are people supposed to know that she speaks four languages?

All her children went to that school they all speak French and Dutch. Believe me that teacher knew she spoke Dutch. Besides the "you people" remark was totally unnecessary... she could have just asked "Do you speak Dutch." There have been several other things like that... like her son made a grammar mistake mistake and the teacher wrote something on his paper like "we have different rules of grammar in our country." The kid was born here in this country and that teacher knows it...

Derrick

hippiemom wrote:

I'm certainly no fan of what the U.S. armed forces are up to, but they're claiming to be spreading freedom, not Christianity. It's bullshit, of course, but they fight under a U.S. flag, not a cross. Nothing that they do is being done in the name of religion, so I don't see any need to bring Christianity into it.

Now, if you want to talk about being embarrassed to be an American of any faith (or no faith at all) with the way this administration is behaving, I'm with ya on that.

ORLY..."One nation under God huh?" nvm.
Would you prefer the following?

"I can't imagine what it must be like to be a non radical American that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the US Armed Forces running making a bad name for the entire population of America."

Derrick

reborncareerist wrote:

Just agreeing with his point wouldn't have been too much to expect, eh? He basically said that moderate Muslims must be pretty upset about this situation. You have an issue with that, apparently?
Seems like a fair argument to me.

No more upset than a moderate westerner should be. I DO AGREE....but let's remove the DOUGLAS FIR TREE from our own eyes before commenting on the splinter in another's eye!

VivaPalestina

I really don't blame radicals for making a bad name for other Muslims, I blame ignorant people who just lump them all together and don't realize that there are rotten people in every race, religion, ethnicity. It may be deeper than ignorance sometimes, I think it is just maliciousness on the part of people who do know better. I met a Jewish guy that said all Arabs should be wiped off the face of the earth during the first Gulf War. I really don't get that, especially if you come from the background of the Holocaust. All races, religions and ethnicities have racist and ignorant people, we just have to separate the race and religion from the person.

LBC1076

Derrick wrote:

"I can't imagine what it must be like to be a non radical American that's open to discussion and tolerance with all of the US Armed Forces running making a bad name for the entire population of America."

That's what I was going to say.


I think its time for a revolution.