Why can't people still figure out the difference between a muslim and an Arab?

Question

Before you say stupid crap like all muslims are arabs. They are not 60 percent of Arabs in the US are Christians only 35 percent are muslims.

Answer 1

I don't know is it a problem for some?

Answer 2

I don't know, it's a pretty straightforward difference, it's not like the Jews where the word refers to both the race and the religion. Muslims are followers of Islam, Arabs are the semitic peoples of the Arabian peninsula, now numerous from Iraq to North Africa, as well, and distributed throughout the word. Outside of the Ummah, non-Muslim Arabs probably make up a larger proportion because they've fled persecution in Muslim countries.

Answer 3

Because in today's world a fine line has been created between geography and religion. And your question points that fact out very well. People will believe just about anything if you keep feeding them the same info long enough. And its not just confined to such things as the middle east and religion. Its shocking how little people truly know about this world we live in. Here's and example I grew up in the province of Ontario. And it never failed to make me laugh when i had to explain to one of our many American relatives that visited that we didn't have snow year round. Just a simple lack of information and knowledge. Much the same way many people think that being Arab means your also a Muslim. Kind of sad when you look at the amount of information that is available to everyone if they take the time to look.

Answer 4

We are still so ethnically challenged in this country. Ethnic groups of all kinds tend to know the details of lifestyles (religion, traditions, etc.) only within their own spheres. We encounter different ethnic groups in the real world on a daily basis but we don't go deep enough to really learn anything about them beyond the surface details. It's true that birds of a feather fly together. That applies to negative stereotypes as well as positive activities.

9/11 happens and we see people of Middle Eastern descent were responsible, and they are Muslims who have perverted their own religion to serve their hate. But knowledge just as important to our impressions of what is going on is withheld. The media has never, to my knowledge, made it a priority to tell us all that the majority of Arabs in the United States are Christians. I have never heard this from the government either, in any speech given about the "Muslim" world. So most people in this country, not knowing that, and being too busy, or too lazy, to find out the facts for themselves come to believe that all Arabs are Muslim and consequently there are none that can be trusted.

Chris Rock told a joke the other day about blacks not being the most watched ethnic group in America anymore. It was funny the way he told it, but it was true. And I'm not sure how we can change that. I know when I flew to Colorado last year I didn't take my eyes off of several people who were clearly of Middle Eastern descent. It bothered me that I couldn't seem to help it and yet I made no effort to stop eyeballing them either. Yesterday in the grocery store there was a family clearly of Middle Eastern descent, and you could feel the tension surrounding them as people passed them in the aisles and looked out of the corners of their eye at them, including myself. You can lambast me for this, but I'm trying to make a point in a roundabout way.

I'm very aware that it isn't right to single all of these people out that live in our country and are citizens who don't deserve to be instantly under suspicion because of where their lineage lies. But at the same time I struggle with knowing that Al Queda consists largely of Middle Easterners and it's been verified that there are active cells right in this country.

How and where do we draw that line and not insult every Middle Easterner in this country? If you have the answer I'll be glad to hear it, because right now it's a mystery to me. It's something I struggle with every time I see someone of that descent cross my path, so please tell me what the answer is, because it really does bother me.

Answer 5

My friend from Iran asks the same question. He's a Muslim, but not an Arab. Seems to me that Muhammad Ali is likewise.

Answer 6

Because they don't know. What they know are ...even they are not muslims they have their culture as an Arab which is a bit similar to muslims. Just deny your heritage and say you are an American he, he, he.....

Answer 7

Good question.... most people on here really don't know much about the world. A lot of them have probably never left the United States but they are experts on the Middle East. Go figure.

Answer 8

Drake you missed the point about Islamics. Not all Muslims are Islamic, not all Arabs are Islamic or Muslim....etc etc...etc...it is true people mess these up a lot but its usually not with malice but just ignorance.

Answer 9

you can't tell what kind of religion someone is by looking a them, unless they are jewish! The skin color is almost the same in muslims and arabs

Answer 10

a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist. Go ahead and 'analyze' it while they are busy planning your demise you pandering, appeasing, spineless liberal wackjob!