Why are all Muslims being persecuted, stereotyped and attacked for what a small percentage of extremists do?

Question

Shouldn't we judge each individual separately and not the entire religion? I mean it is not fair how we are judging Muslims. Muslims make up about 22% of the world's population. If most Muslims were extremists we would be seeing a lot more attacks. It is just not right, that in this day and age in America, that this kind of prejudice is going on when and what makes it worse is the media and the government, who just fan the flames of tension with war and lies.

Answer 1

Wackos love to stereotype.

Answer 2

All I can say is that I have fiends from all over. Some from countries that are on the state Dept.s "terror sponsoring list. Like the folks from the West bank. You would not believe the "school books" they showed me (brought when they immigrated here. They told me they had thriving businesses with the Israelis and the PLO told them to shut down and stay on the West Bank side. I, being the nut I am, asked why didn't you tell the police and was told they were the police and that many people were taken from their houses at night and shot in the head and left in the street as an example, that's why you have so many different factions now. If someone did that to a friend I would mount up also.

Any group that would teach their children to hate and be racist and then send them to blow up innocent women and children is the lowest form of a human. I will never forget the people that perished on 911.

That said people do not trust fruitcakes that do that. Not than given a month I couldn't come up with a battalion of nuts here. I find it interesting that Israel has over 2.5 million Arab citizens living in peace with them. Many serve in the IDF. Folks I know from Eygpt fought in the war and did not want to attack the Jews. Once surrounded he got out of his tank and went home. The Israelis took the tanks and conveted them.

It is an insane hatred that has held them back. As I stated the children are being taught at a very young age. It is sad that Israel was originaly given also the state of Jordan and that the arabs and English limited immigration to the extent that so many perished at the hands of the Nazis. I am using this as an example to show the hatred and how insane this all is.

What they did and do is not natural. The extremist that push this stuff take advatage of others and should let them just get along. I also think it is insane to have the ACLU fight for you because you want your face covered up for a drivers license.

In closing I don't see any "persecuted or stereotyped" stuff going on. Most i know get along and are just like the rest of us wanting their piece of the pie. But people learn and once burned, twice shy. Not sure why you wrote this are where you are, but please show a link or something that backs up what you say. I told you what I don't like and that is the extreme element, which my Arabs friends dont like either. I certainly don't see it in the media. You are confusing two different elements. The old saying one bad apple does not make the whole bunch bad.

I respect one the, other, for what happened to those little children on the planes and the rest I will not.

In closing I suggest if you want a good handle on some of this read the book How Satan turned America against God by Rev. William Grady, it's like 1,000 pages and 2,000 endnotes. you may learn something. As far as the rest, you may need to change your peer group. Trust me I am not an authority on anything, but know peope from just about evey country over there and once a Muslim friend and i went and ate at a pork place called RED, HOt And Blue and we both got sick, go figure. Take care. P.S. Glad you did ot use the word "racist" because then everyone would have know you were a liberal and not even taken the time to answer as they are known to be irrational and illogical and quite insane. And that's a fact Jack!

Answer 3

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "what makes it worse is the media and the government, who just fan the flames of tension with war and lies." Unfortunately, the common Joe Schmoe or Mary Jane in the USA today has many misconceptions about Islam and Muslims.

I agree with you that we shouldn't judge or stereotype a whole group of people. We should find out about each human individually and give everyone a chance at least - not use our preconceived notions to just put up walls between us.

As a Muslim in this country, however, I do not feel like I am being persecuted or attacked on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps because I'm a man, and there isn't really any major indicator from my physical appearance that I am a Muslim(and I might be confused for some other ethnicities), this might be the case. Muslim women in this country who observe the hijab have to go through a lot more. I still remember how my friend told me that once at a mall a man asked his mother "do you wear that thing on your head because your face is ugly?"(she was wearing the less common form of hijab which covers all except the top of her face). Also, there was a case at a school over here in my vicinity wear a school teacher actually took off a girls head covering in class(but at least the man was kicked out of that school)... so I think that Muslim ladies in this country(and in Western countries in general, especially in France) have to go through a bit more persecution and attacks.

But back to the general problems between the West and Islam - it isn't a secret that the true simple form of Islam(Sunni Islam) is at odds with the capitalistic mentality and Western cultures. I will not use the terms fundamentalist Islam or extremist Islam or liberal or conservative, but the basic form of Islam - Islam that could be called fundamental in the sense that it isn't changed or altered with new ideas or modernism or anything - does come into conflict with the Western culture. For example, in Islam pre-marital sexual relations are outlawed, and so is alcohol and pork. Gambling is also outlawed. So these industries in the USA are large industries, and there are significant lobby groups that support them. Also, the banking system in Islam is much different - interest, specifically usury, is outlawed. Not to mention that Muslims are supposed to observe more modest clothing and social behaviors than what is usually observed in the West.

But this doesn't mean that Muslims are supposed to disrespect or force their religion onto non-Muslims. We are only supposed to show others what Islam is. In this sense Islam differs from Judaism - in the Jewish faith, if you are a Jew then you usually don't try to preach Judaism to others.

Speaking of Judaism, one big point about the conflict and stereotypes is the media as you explained. And it is no secret or big conspiracy theory but it is a fact that the media does have a bias against Muslims. There are a few movies where this is very evident, like The Siege or Rules of Engagement.

And about the government, currently there is a small group of very influential people in government who are very pro-Israel and who want to start a war with Iran. They also want the general public to live in fear of Muslims. These pro-Israel lobby groups, also called Zionists, have it in their interest to stereotype Muslims. It's just to their benefit to portray Islam as a terrorist creed - because that way they can make Israel look like an oasis of democracy in the desert.

To conclude, Muslims in America do need to stand up a little stronger and to educate the general public, to counteract the lies that the public receives from the media. And also, in the libraries across America, misconceptions about Islam and many anti-Islamic books are making people just more distrustful and hateful. Fortunately, online we can try to do that a little bit to counteract. So I'd highly recommend that anyone who wants to learn more about what Islam really stands for check out some of the links at the end.

Answer 4

I would argue that not "all Muslims" are being persecuted, stereotyped and attacked. However, I agree with you that, instead of judging religions; nor should we think that most Muslims are extremists.

Some of our Christian friends may try to complicate matters by quoting the Koran or taking one extremist (Muslim or otherwise) and hold them out as an example of what's wrong. If they are REALLY Christian, they should quote Jesus Christ. In other words, does the prospective person (Muslim or otherwise) love the Lord God with all their heart, all their sould, all their strength and all their mind? Do they love their neighbor as themself? If the person does, they are on the right track and we can set aside the concept of "prejudice" in favor of love for our fellow man.

By the way, while there are bad elements of both the media and the government, there is some good too. President Bush could have called it the "War on Islamo-fascism" or the "War on Radical Islam". Thankfully, he has not: both because (despite an inaccurate perception) it would fan the flames of religious intolerance and because it only attacks the current flavor of terrorism. Terrorism comes in many flavors and, as rogue nations acquire nuclear capabilities, those flavors will expand by those who can leverage those capabilities while being sheltered by the government which refuses to fight terrorism. Instead of "War on Terror" I'd prefer to label an initiative "Peace for the Future". Ronald Reagan had a similar saying with "Peace through Strength" and, like this implied, a "Peace for the Future" initiative would keep the table of negotiations open to all while firmly standing by bedrock principles such as nuclear non-proliferation.

Answer 5

Because that small percentage of Muslims have killed a large percentage of people. Until the Muslims disassociated with these extremists and condemned their acts of violence---Muslims will be stereotype, but have not seen or heard one Muslim Religion Leader condemned any of their acts. That fan the flames

Answer 6

Muslims are not being persecuted and attacked in North America! Where on earth did you get such a bizarre idea? The very fact that you state this falsehood as though it were true makes you guilty of stereotyping everyone in North America. Also, while I'm at it, when people express their horror at the flogging of a rape victim in Saudi Arabia and the punishment given a teacher for the naming of a toy,it doesn't mean that they are anti-Muslim.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, muslims aren't doing enough to stop radical elements within their communities from escalating into terrorism. In the UK, a huge percentage (perhaps even a majority) of young British muslims are of the opinion that suicide bombings can under certain circumstances be justified, and feel that sharia law is the right and only interpretation of islamic law. Many muslims around the world believe that 9/11 was an American government conspiracy, and that the US is only in Iraq to get their hands on cheap oil. (forgetting that the hundreds of billions of dollars that the war is costing the US exceed any oil revenues by a huge factor).

Furthermore, it is fair to say that most terrorists are muslims, but that doesn't mean that most muslims are terrorists. However, that critical logical mistake is sadly often made by people.

Answer 8

I wasn't aware the moderate Muslims were being persecuted? Maybe your views are so bias you're missing the real thoughts and views of the mainstream. I just don't see it the same way as you do? I do think the moderate Muslims could voice there negative opinion of radicals more vocally to help substantiate there distance from the terrorist types. just my view, except for after 911 yes they were persecuted, better safe than sorry after that tragedy some might have thought.

Answer 9

Because that small percentage of extremists is persecuting, stereotyping, and attacking the majority of non-Muslims, and because they're doing it according to what they interpret as the tenets of Islam. Because the majority of non-extremist Muslims haven't done much to reign in their half-witted brethren causing most of the problems. Because more than a small minority of Muslims find no problem in ridiculing other faiths, but go ballistic if someone draws a cartoon of their prophet or names a teddy bear after him. Because countries that put hardline Islamic Sharia law into practice have horrible human rights records. Because most of the attacks--whether successful or not--going on around the world right now are being carried out by a "small percentage" that's a lot larger than you realize.

I do not hate Muslims, nor their faith. But I at least am not blinding myself to the fact that there is a real problem, and both Muslims and non-Muslims have to be willing to face it and admit it exists before that problem can be addressed, much less solved.

Answer 10

Moderate Muslims are a figment of your imagination.

Islam is not a religion of moderation, it is extreme at its very core.

Recently a Islamic cleric issued a fatwah that said it was OK for a woman to hit a man back while he was beating her. What kind of people have to be told that from their church.

A girl was given 200 lashes because she was a victim of rape.

A Danish cartoonist makes a fairly unoffensive cartoon about Muhamad and 7-11 employees all over the world start burning stuff.

The list goes on and on.

The action of a few suggests the intent of the whole, the inaction of the majority suggest nothing except perhaps acceptance.

Stop defending the Muslims they don't care about you and they will not defend you like you do them.

Answer 11

The thing is you can't tell what's going on inside peoples heads. Most Muslims would openly admit that they have allegiance to Allah rather than the country they live in, how can you trust anyone who feels any sympathy at all with others of their own faith who maim and kill innocent people? It would be very nice to be able to take each one separately, but as their faith is something that binds them together, I can't see how you can separate each one from it. If there's any prejudice going on, it's Muslims judging the west as not being good enough for them.