I remember what some people I knew were saying right after 9/11. They were advocating things like turning the entire Middle East into "a glass parking lot" and other violent ideas. I remember the stories about Americans who were going around attacking people who looked "Middle Eastern".
It surprises me when people start to become the very enemy that they profess to be against. How quickly some of us turned from grief and shock to rage and bigotry. And it's still going on these days.
Personally, I don't subscribe to the belief that all Muslims, all followers of Islam are evil fanatics who want to kill all Americans. Some buy into it; I don't. I find that analysis to be downright assinine. To me, spreading stereotypes and generalities about large groups of people only creates more problems and does nothing to address the issues at hand. More Below:
These days there are far too many people who believe that all Muslims are evil, that they are all extremists who support terrorism. I am strongly against such generalizations, as they lead to greater division, and dehumanization. Thinking in terms of stereotypes is also ignorant and lazy, in my opinion.
It's important to state that yes, there are extremists who claim to adhere to Islam, and yes they are terrorists. But are they the most representative voice of all Muslims? I doubt it. It's important to stick to specifics when talking about terrorism and violence. Some of the generalizations about Islam that are going around these days would be like using the KKK as proper representatives of Christianity.
I am among many people who have wondered where the voice of reason among Muslims is. Where are the Muslims that are speaking out against terrorism and violence?
They do exist. They are out there. However, their voices are not as known as they should be. But then, how much have we all been listening?
It is important to realize that in many Muslim countries freedom of speech is not an inherent right for all. Many Muslim people live in countries under harsh repressive governments, where human rights violations abound. Saudi Arabia is a good example of such a nation. No wonder the voices of protest are so silent.
But there are Muslims speaking out against terrorism and violence, and many are here in the U.S. I think it's important to listen to them, so that we can get past the stereotypes, and come to a greater mutual understanding.
Muslims against Extremism and Fundamentalism: http://www.islamfortoday.com/fundamnetalism.htm
Muslims against terrorsim: http://www.rayhawk.com/classics/matusa/home.html
Free Muslims Against Terrorism: http://www.freemuslims.org/
Muslims Condemn Terrorist attacks: http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php
American Muslims should speak up: http://www.altmuslim.com/opinion_comments.php?id=1372_0_25_0_C
Two links about religion and violence:
http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/1086.htm
http://www.reporterinteractive.org/news/110304/printer/bk110304.htm
-r.a.