Dear America... We don't hate you, and we don't hate your way of life.
This is quick note to clear up some confusion. It seems like lately one cannot watch the news, or read a newspaper without reading about the threat of "the Islamist agenda".
In that case, give the GZ mosque Imam a call and tell him to quit pushing what millions of us see as a monument to the radical Muslims who killed 3000 or so Americans on 9/11 by killing the flight crews, hijacking airliners and flying them into the twin towers while screaming, “God is great!”
I mean it would be a help if your Imam would just shut up about it. We don’t want to be consoled, reached out to or patted on the head.
Got that?
I am a Muslim, and the big agenda on my mind today was if i should get my wife an iPhone or an iPad for her birthday.
Well, the big agenda for many today is where they will have the memorial service for Daddy on Saturday. I mean since his body was completely destroyed there was nothing to bury and little “Suzy,” who is 13 now, keeps having dreams that Daddy is still alive and burning.
Her screams wake her, and the rest of the family almost every night.
Lack of closure is a problem for many when a loved one dies.
It may be hard to believe when you follow the news, but consider this:
Today, hundreds of thousands more Muslim teenagers woke up worried about their teenage acne, than those who woke up pondering terrorism;
Today, hundreds of thousands more men woke up pondering if if Liverpool would ever win the Premiership again, than did woke up pondering "the downfall of the west";
Today, hundreds of thousands more muslims woke up and wanted the new iPhone 4, than did woke up wanting some sort of WMD.
We really are regular folk. We like walks on the beach, and pretty sunsets. We enjoy reading good books, drinking good coffee and the company of good friends. We hope that our kids graduate well, are well mannered and we sometimes don't call our moms back as soon as we should. Our moms feel proud when we do well, and they have hopes and dreams for us too. Our dads spend hours on the sports page and our kid sisters hit us up for money whenever they can.
For hundreds of years, we have been happily working side by side in society. We are builders, bankers, students, scientists, janitors, presidents and teachers. We still serve in militaries around the world and we are firemen and policemen and protect and serve. We sing the national anthems of our countries and blew Vuvuzelas when our countries played in the World Cup. We just happen to pray differently.
First of all, no. You have not been here, at least in any number that attracted attention, for hundreds of years. As a group you are a recent addition and as a group you have insisted on drawing attention to yourselves by demanding special facilities and rules at public schools, not transporting legal passengers in public transport and, among other things, dressing so that it would be impossible to identify you in case there was a crime involved. (I could continue but I won’t.)
And yes, you do pray differently. No problem there. But this stuff of demanding special prayer rooms at work and at airports, as well as the GZ mosque, bothers people.
The basis of all of these demands is your religious law, Sharia.
Look at it like this. We don’t have a bunch of Christians in Mecca demanding they be allowed to build a church.
In the meantime you demand tolerance.
Tolerance goes both ways. You want respect? Then give respect.
Sure we feel bad when cartoons insult our revered figures, but we feel even worse when it spurs violent (really un-Islamic) protests. There are more than a billion Muslims in the world today, and a veritable handful who react with violence. Surely you must see that this isn't representative of us all? We don't look at the Abu Ghraib fiasco and assume that all Americans torture people at the drop of a hat. Many of us still serve in the US Armed Forces!
Glad you mentioned Abu Ghraib. First, the US Army was in full investigation mode before it hit the New York Times. That’s how we do things. Secondly, can you name me Muslim people and/or organizations that is/are/were seriously looking for the killers of Daniel Pearl??
There is a small group amongst the Muslims who are violent extremists, and there are a small group of hawks who need a new bogeyman. Let's not let them define the world for the rest of us.
Well, in today’s connected world, define “small.” WMD’s are real. And the last person to use chemical weapons was Saddam.
Now we know that every Muslim is not a radical. I mean, in spite of the attacks/plots before and after 9/11 in the US and around the world, the FBI says the incidence of hate crime attacks against Muslim is the smallest of any group.
Have you considered that?
And have you considered that maybe it is time to quit yelling that we do things your way? I mean you came here, yet you appear to be determined to bring all of your past with you.
Why is that?
Did you come here to be an American or did you come here to find a better economy and to be allowed to do what you want to do, irrespective of what the rest of us think?
Our national motto is, “In God we trust,” and “Out of many, one.” You claim to believe the former but your actions show you don’t believe in the latter.
The sad truth is that a bunch of guys burning cars is always more newsworthy than a bunch of guys handing in their TPS reports, but trust me, the latter happens many more times per hour by guys like me all over the world, just going about our business.. just like you..
/Average Muslim.
The sad truth is that the so-called Moderate Muslims are letting this happen because they are not taking action. If the Muslim world actually condemns honor killings, let it stop them. If the Muslim world condemns stoning, let it stop the barbaric practice. If the Muslim world condemns lashings, beheadings, forced marriages, no schooling for females……let it stop them.
Let the Moderates step up and take control of their world. Stop the riots and killing when a cartoon is published. Quit the threatening and screaming “I’m insulted.”
In other words, when you have removed the mote from your eye, come back and see me.
An Average American
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OnTwitter I am Lesabre1"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson
