Islam
I know some excellent Muslims. I hang out with a pair of them pretty regularly at school. Ahmed and Jasmina are perfectly normal. Jasmina is trying to talk me into political science and Ahmed has given up on talking me into Biology. There are good Muslims, maybe the vast majority of Muslims are good? I have been party to sample of the good ones and have never seen a bad one. But it is not the water in the northern regions of Africa that causes genocide. It is not the food which allows women no rights in the Middle East. It is not the trees which tell men to strap on bombs and kill the Jews. Orthodox Islam is corrosive. It eats away empathy and turns the noblest elements of the human will, self sacrifice, bravery, loyalty, and devotion, to a twisted cause. Do I wish there was no Islam? Yes, I wish that. But there is Islam, so we live with it and try to get along.
Should we profile Muslims. No. We are Americans and that is not how we roll. We deal with each person according to their actions. However, some white trash skinhead writes about killing black people, you watch him like a hawk. A Muslim talks about Jihad, watch him like a hawk. Muslims should practice their faith with the same freedom that I do as a Christian. However, there needs to be some good faith here. The second my pastor cracked and told me it was time to go get some Muslims and Jews, I would speak with him. If he maintained, I would frog-march him to an institution. Evil words are evil words regardless of the mouth they issue from. I would hope that my fellow citizens who listen to their imams would do me the same service.
There are some codes of conduct here. There is stigma around certain articles of regalia. Why the hell would you wear full white robes, like the ones martyrs wear, into in airport when you know the thoughts that accompany that regalia? The reality is that getup is exceedingly popular amongst those who choose to blow themselves up, so regular Muslims might be more concerned with courtesy than making a statement.
Another great issue with Islam is that the brand that has state support behind it in so many countries is terribly violent and does not allow for peaceful coexistence. It is still a death penalty offense to bring a bible into Saudi Arabia. Iranian public schools still preach hatred against Christians and Jews. Don't get me started on the Sudan or Somalia. Islam has screwed up every country where it holds sway, and more often than not gives rise to an oligarchy of those who have the will to power.
Do I watch the man walking through the airport in full white robes? You betcha. Do I watch the man in full white robes that walks into the NAACP office? Klar! Neither are normal every day attire, and both have been put on for the special purpose of murder. I watch people with confederate flags on their trucks, why? Because what we wear makes a statement about our belief, and some things have been worn while men made some pretty evil statements.
Final Verdict. I think that Islam is no good. But I think that most people who live with it will never suffer some of its more serious psychological side effects.
Should we profile Muslims. No. We are Americans and that is not how we roll. We deal with each person according to their actions. However, some white trash skinhead writes about killing black people, you watch him like a hawk. A Muslim talks about Jihad, watch him like a hawk. Muslims should practice their faith with the same freedom that I do as a Christian. However, there needs to be some good faith here. The second my pastor cracked and told me it was time to go get some Muslims and Jews, I would speak with him. If he maintained, I would frog-march him to an institution. Evil words are evil words regardless of the mouth they issue from. I would hope that my fellow citizens who listen to their imams would do me the same service.
There are some codes of conduct here. There is stigma around certain articles of regalia. Why the hell would you wear full white robes, like the ones martyrs wear, into in airport when you know the thoughts that accompany that regalia? The reality is that getup is exceedingly popular amongst those who choose to blow themselves up, so regular Muslims might be more concerned with courtesy than making a statement.
Another great issue with Islam is that the brand that has state support behind it in so many countries is terribly violent and does not allow for peaceful coexistence. It is still a death penalty offense to bring a bible into Saudi Arabia. Iranian public schools still preach hatred against Christians and Jews. Don't get me started on the Sudan or Somalia. Islam has screwed up every country where it holds sway, and more often than not gives rise to an oligarchy of those who have the will to power.
Do I watch the man walking through the airport in full white robes? You betcha. Do I watch the man in full white robes that walks into the NAACP office? Klar! Neither are normal every day attire, and both have been put on for the special purpose of murder. I watch people with confederate flags on their trucks, why? Because what we wear makes a statement about our belief, and some things have been worn while men made some pretty evil statements.
Final Verdict. I think that Islam is no good. But I think that most people who live with it will never suffer some of its more serious psychological side effects.
As you say, we treat people based on their actions. This is key. We have a lot of statistics, and we're not to treat people based on them. That is, I may go and find that 70% of the crimes committed in an area are by one ethnic or social group, but this does not mean I should be automatically be suspicious of any member of that group whom I come across. Suspicion, wariness, whatever, is based on a simple formula: opportunity vs. behavior.
ReplyDeleteOpportunity means that I'm more wary of people who could cause me harm. If I'm taking a late-night walk and I pass a large man in his twenties, I will watch him more closely than, say, a middle-aged woman. Not because the man may or may not be black, white, Hispanic, etc., but because, if he has evil intentions, he is in a stronger position to enact them than the woman is.
Behavior is what you spoke of. If someone seriously speaks of killing a certain social group, then he should be watched as closely as the person who seriously speaks of killing indiscriminately. If a person is acting like they're concealing a weapon, that's suspect behavior. And, as you said, it does extend to clothing. Most clothing choices are dictated by culture and taste, and that's fine, but some bear scrutiny. Like the white robes, as you said, and also like a person wearing a hoodie with the hood drawn over a baseball cap, when it's not cold or raining; like very baggy clothing when it's very hot; hell, like a ski-mask when you're playing in the snow, or like someone wearing a trenchoat with running shoes and bare ankles.
Just so. When you see that man with a trench and bare ankles, by all means, grab a sheet or table cloth and follow him.
ReplyDeleteI like that little formula. Opportunity vs. Behavior is an excellent glass through which to view each situation as you meet it.