Re: Islam and the West
I am in a musical mood :)
Re: Islam and the West
^lol
Re: Islam and the West
Nisha- there are plenty of muslims and plenty of muslim organizations which have been speaking out, educating, involved in community activities (and i dont mean just the muslim community) .. if that is not picked up by the talking heads then there is not much that one can do.
as far as haters go, the type of people whose grandparents were against civil rights movement and really never got rid of their bigotry, It is amusing to me that they can find the most remote examples of some jackass of a muslim doing something moronic in US or in Burkina Faso, but are unable to find anything good that any muslim group is doing. It is the same type of jackasses who dont even know that fatwa against suicide attacks has been made, against attack on civilians, agsinst terrorism, with hundreds of muslim organizations and leaders signing on it.
At the end of the day, the responsibility is a two way street. I completely whole heartedly agree that muslims need to educate people, to take a stance to limit the influence of the political extremists in our institutions, and at the same time responsibility rests on the people to go out and search and find info, find people and have a dialogue.
There may not be a muslim organization or a mosque in Po Dunk, tennessee, but does that justify bubba hatin muslims because of what he read on some 'conservative'... bigoted rightwinger site. What happened to the concept of personal responsibility to increase one's awareness.
Sorry, I dont have time to educate bigots who are a lost cause, what I can tell them is something available all over the internet and something many prominent muslims and groups have said already and continue saying. Their excuses to justify them being buncha bigot thugs go only so far.
I am a very liberal dude with no room for extremist views of anyone, whether it is some muslim or a muslim hater.
Now could a stronger more coordinated PR campaign help? sure.. never hurts, but in a place where we have birthers or people who think Obama is a muslim, those type of ass clowns can live in their own la la land, logic and facts dont really get in their way.
There is a saying in urdu, Bhains kay aagay been bajana..thats what it is like trying to educate such people. They will find some other excuse. Now.. in my workplace, community and neighbourhood, my actions speak louder than words and conversations with others even if not about religion have them of get a better understanding of me as a person and my family and their views of muslims get shaped from there, that I am very much aware of and do my best. Edumacating some bigot thug from podunkville, Crappy Red state is not my responsibility. its his responsibility to go learn. His ignorance is due to him not doing enough, not due to me not doing enough.
PS: what are these types doing to educate me that they are not all part of the racist anti govt militias and that they dont support them. booo hoo I am so scared..their silence is deafening..add other cliches..
really well said X2 and you make loads of sense. the thing is that i grew up in a pretty multicultural state in the north where south asians are 2nd and now 3rd generation south asian american and now for higher studies i came down to the deep south, the radio stations are mostly christian stations which is understandable, it is a christian majority country, but the political news shows on the radio are all republican leaning ones like the rush limbaugh show almost all day long, there are none that show the other democrat views. npr is on only once a day and this is in a pretty big city in the state it's great that there are muslims like you that are making a difference but i just wish there were more like you that are more vocal in states like the ones i live in that's all. the scariest time was when the islamic cultural center was being criticized, the way the rush limbaugh show and other republican leaning shows were doing there ignorant propaganda against muslims was ridiculous, i can only tolerate his show for 1 minute.....and when people that know zilch about islam and muslims(i'm not talking about the rednecks or bigots) hear all that, it makes me a bit worried about the future. hopefully the balanced nonmuslim or muslim are in the majority and will try to get all sides of any issue.
things do differ and the culture is different going from region to region in the united states
Re: Islam and the West
Nisha- I have lived in midwest, north and have family in south so I know the variances very well.
I can not be held responsible for lack of interest, effort or sincerity on the part of haters. and if I was like them I could turn this around and ask, where are the moderate southerners speaking up against the bigots? but I know there are citizens and groups that are against this type of thuggery. I cant hold them responsible for the boorish behavior of their bigoted community members or fellow state residents.
I think the responsibility rests with the people. because otherwise, can we then justify hate that the extremists in some muslim countries have for US, ..because they are unaware? No, absolutely not. I would have bought it 30 years ago as an excuse, with limits on media and access to information. Now the information is available online, and even after govt censorships in some places you can get enough of a rational point of view or multitude of points of view that a sensible individual can draw their own conclusions. everyone can read..i think, and there are enough libraries around even if someone does not have a computer at home that they can go and read up, they can contact muslim groups and understand. sitting around in hate just because ahmed has not knocked on your door to have a discussion with you or you did not see a rally for something at your local major intersection, is simply ridiculous. Its flimsy excuses, and one has to be a real jackass extraordinaire to believe it but people justify it to themselves all the time
Christians are great people, just like muslims are great people, and its great that people in some states have closer ties to their churches, more power to them. religious institutions play a strong positive role in peoples' lives. The issue is with people twisting religion to suit their own views and in that sense bigots from any group are just that, bigots.
and responsibility also rests with hypocrit 'family value' druggies like rush and co, all they are doing is whipping their audience into a frenzy. Where is media responsibility in here? I understand its a ratings game and higher ratings mean higher ad revenue, and in the end that is all that matters to these 24 hour "news" channels. The strategy is old, keep people busy on non critical stuff so they dont ask about what is really important..these uber right wingers have critique but no answers for education, infrastructure, health, R&D, ..anything, they are good at sloganeering. Reminds me of stuff like people voting simply on gun ownership and abortion issue, as if that really impacts their lives on a daily ongoing basis. They are the exact replica of the rabid jahil mullahs in some countries, same mindset, same intellectual capacity, same motives, just diff garb. buncha idiots
Next time someone asks where the moderate muslim voices are, ask them, where did they look.
Re: Islam and the West
Nisha Muslims are still underattack and Islam says to hit back and we will hit back and INSHALLAH hit back hard
I find it ironic that no one has bothered to correct this guy at all, in all of hte talk about moderate Muslims needing to correct others.
Re: Islam and the West
I find it ironic that of all the posts that is the one you focus on.
its ridiculous enough that anyone sensible would see that as flame bait and not fall for it.
but since you asked, here goes
Zaravan..relax dude...violence is not the answer, engagement is.
Re: Islam and the West
There is no modernism or conservatism when it comes to Islam.
You're either a Practicing, or Non-Practicing Muslim.
I don't know whether these are practicing or non-practicing ones but there are a lot of Muslims out in the West who are changing the perception of how they view us now.
Re: Islam and the West
yup there are sensible people who are muslims
and there are jackasses who are also muslim
its not about what type of muslim they are
but what type of person they are
the jackasses would be jackasses if they were druids for all I know
Re: Islam and the West
There is no modernism or conservatism when it comes to Islam. You're either a Practicing, or Non-Practicing Muslim.
I don't know whether these are practicing or non-practicing ones but there are a lot of Muslims out in the West who are changing the perception of how they view us now.
Yes but some of religion, not just Islam, is open to personal interpretation, hence the differing views amongst scholars. Not to mention the political mess thrown in. And don't forget, the Quran is written in a language no one speaks and translations are to the best of our abilities.
Different sects of Islam believe that others are not really Muslim and are wrong. People have changed perceptions already. For example, some conservative Saudis don't even consider Pakistanis to be true Muslims.
Re: Islam and the West
yup there are sensible people who are muslims and there are jackasses who are also muslim its not about what type of muslim they are but what type of person they are the jackasses would be jackasses if they were druids for all I know
Agreed. When I see some people look at a person's piousness as the sole measure of their character, I can't help but think that they are ignorant and brainwashed to some degree. There is good and bad among all groups.
By the way, that's a great point about moderate Americans never speaking out against extremist views like those of the "Tea Baggers".
Re: Islam and the West
Nisha- there are plenty of muslims and plenty of muslim organizations which have been speaking out, educating, involved in community activities (and i dont mean just the muslim community) .. if that is not picked up by the talking heads then there is not much that one can do.
as far as haters go, the type of people whose grandparents were against civil rights movement and really never got rid of their bigotry, It is amusing to me that they can find the most remote examples of some jackass of a muslim doing something moronic in US or in Burkina Faso, but are unable to find anything good that any muslim group is doing. It is the same type of jackasses who dont even know that fatwa against suicide attacks has been made, against attack on civilians, agsinst terrorism, with hundreds of muslim organizations and leaders signing on it.
At the end of the day, the responsibility is a two way street. I completely whole heartedly agree that muslims need to educate people, to take a stance to limit the influence of the political extremists in our institutions, and at the same time responsibility rests on the people to go out and search and find info, find people and have a dialogue.
There may not be a muslim organization or a mosque in Po Dunk, tennessee, but does that justify bubba hatin muslims because of what he read on some 'conservative'... bigoted rightwinger site. What happened to the concept of personal responsibility to increase one's awareness.
Sorry, I dont have time to educate bigots who are a lost cause, what I can tell them is something available all over the internet and something many prominent muslims and groups have said already and continue saying. Their excuses to justify them being buncha bigot thugs go only so far.
I am a very liberal dude with no room for extremist views of anyone, whether it is some muslim or a muslim hater.
Now could a stronger more coordinated PR campaign help? sure.. never hurts, but in a place where we have birthers or people who think Obama is a muslim, those type of ass clowns can live in their own la la land, logic and facts dont really get in their way.
There is a saying in urdu, Bhains kay aagay been bajana..thats what it is like trying to educate such people. They will find some other excuse. Now.. in my workplace, community and neighbourhood, my actions speak louder than words and conversations with others even if not about religion have them of get a better understanding of me as a person and my family and their views of muslims get shaped from there, that I am very much aware of and do my best. Edumacating some bigot thug from podunkville, Crappy Red state is not my responsibility. its his responsibility to go learn. His ignorance is due to him not doing enough, not due to me not doing enough.
PS: what are these types doing to educate me that they are not all part of the racist anti govt militias and that they dont support them. booo hoo I am so scared..their silence is deafening..add other cliches..
This.