Why can't people understand that it isn't ordinary Muslims who are violent, but that it is the extremists?

Question

People seem to sterotype in a bad way about Muslim people, when almost always the bad terrorist actions are from Muslim extremists.

I have many Muslim friends who I have talked to. I myself am not Muslim, but I am angry to see so much fear of Islam. I have talked to Muslim friends, and they HAVE spoken out against the prejudice toward Muslims. They have told me how Islam preaches peace, and the extremists who claim to be Muslim, do not represent the teachings of Islam. That is why I am posting this question.

I have been to Turkey and Istanbul, and I found the ordinary people of Turkey to be very warm to me, and Istanbul was actually 99% Muslim. There may be a few parts of the Koran that are not peaceful, but the majority of it is.

Answer 1

Remaining ignorant is much easier than trying to understand. Some people stereotype others out of fear and so that they can justify their prejudices and relieve their sense of insecurity. I am not a Muslim but I know many Muslims and most of them say they don't agree with or condone these acts at all. As for those who say they have not heard any Muslims speaking out - if that is actually true then you must not be listening. There have been numerous Muslim leaders, clerics, politicians and business people as well as ordinary people who have continually condemned the use of terror and the perpetration of terrorist actions. Passages from Koran, the Bible and the Talmud can be picked out and used to justify any of the most disgusting things that people can do to each other if that is what the reader desires to do. This has been done throughout history by people from all faiths. It's the 'God On My Side" syndrome. The fact is that there are a minority of extremists with hatred and revenge in their hearts and minds who use religion as a justification for the evil they do. This is not necessarily representative of the beliefs of the majority of followers of a religion.

Answer 2

Well the over-simplified answer is that people are scared on all sides. So the question becomes, "How do we help reduce the fear?" For starters we need to understand what we are afraid of and why, and what they are afraid of and why? It is impossible to determine whether someone is an extremists. We cannot read minds and the extremist do not carry signs saying, "I want all who disagree with me to suffer and die." So classification of someone as an extremist does not help protect you or your loved ones. So while it is unfair, it is understandable why many resort to the higher level classification of "Muslims" to protect against the sub category of the "extremists". Personally, I'm fairly convinced that peace is not possible without sacrifice. So I often find myself asking, "what would I sacrifice to promote the peace?" Would I give up my television? The Internet? Cursing? R-rated movies? Soda? I know it seems somewhat counter-intuitive to think in what appear to be non-sequitor relationships to the current conflicts. IMHO, we are witnessing clashes over resources and cultures. So if I can reduce the amount of resources I consume, or the impact of my culture, perhaps we can start to build a bridge to the negotiating table. - Peace

Answer 3

Well those who say what is the different haven't talked to Muslims. Muslims do want to stop the extremist from causing such a bad name for them.

Just the like Ku Klux Klan does not stand for Christan morals, they are just extreme.

But most people have a bigot attitude that causes them to hate anyone who is different then they are. Much like the KKK.

Answer 4

What rock did you climb out from under? People DO understand that it isn't ordinary Muslims who are violent, but that it is the extremists. Just like ordinary Americans are okay, but we have extremists who are violent, like our own homegrown terrorists; Timothy McViegh, David Koresh, The UniBomber, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, etc.

Answer 5

I know, isn't it silly? Fear is something primal to humanity.. it is larger than so many people. I, for one, know that not all of the nearly 3 billion Muslims in the world are out to destroy the US and Europe... sometimes people just need to sit and think for a bit. People who stereotype like this in my experience have either been raised to believe in a certain way, are lacking in education or just haven't truly thought about it yet.



EDIT: As for those asking "when was the last time you heard a Muslim blah blah blah" .. I have to ask when was the last time you ever actually asked one how they felt about all this? I have a brother in law from Pakistan and friends from Jordan and Lebanon. I can tell you without a doubt that they cried with us on 9/11 and, though they may disagree with some of the US's actions in the world.. they wish us no harm and believe the terrorists to be just as evil as we see them. I have actually talked to Muslims, have you?




A Person: Look up Turkey and bring some hot sauce for your hat.

Answer 6

Those EXTREMISTS are the leaders and they are talking the ordinary Muslims into committing these acts of terror. Don't try to palm off the respectability on a few when it's the "ordinary" ones that are actually doing the bidding of their leaders.

Answer 7

We have had several attacks from Muslim terrorists over the past years. They usually quote from the Koran to justify their actions. Frankly, when I read the verses they quote I find that they do in fact justify the violence. In addition, all Muslim majority countries violate the basic human rights of non-Muslims. Give me one example of a Muslim majority country that does not control the freedom of expression of its population and I eat my hat. BTW, we are sick of your religion and frankly don't care about any of its contents, just leave us alone. Stop trying to bomb us or you will bear the consequences of our wrath.

Pip: read http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=670&pdf=Y , and then we can discuss the sauce situation.

In Islam the penalty for leaving Islam is death, if you do not know this you do not know your religion. As for Turkey being like the US, you obviously have no idea about the state of religious freedom in Turkey. Read the link I provide above.

PS: You don't need me to make Muslims look bad, you do that yourselves when you attacked us on 9/11, in London and Madrid, in Beslan, in the Heathrow and Fort Dix threat and just recently in the attack in Scottland.

Answer 8

I am not particularly worried about Muslims (ordinary as you say) its the ones walking around with masks on their faces and AKs in their hand.

first answer brings a great point.

Answer 9

Most people that I know DO understand that. We havent waged war on the religion as a whole. They are still free to practice their religion freely in America.

Answer 10

Republicans are that way, they love to victimize those that are different (race, economic status, nationality,etc) and they are very, very often on the look out for somebody to attack.
If the other can defend itself, they say "good, arms build up".
If the other can not protect itself, they say "good, lets bomb them".