Muslims greet me with "Salaam Aleikum" all the time and they know I'm a Christian.
They maintain friendships with me.
They never preach at me and accept me as I am. A lot of them will actually discuss religion with me in an open and honest exchange. (I never initiate this - I'm a guest of their country and culture and I respect that.)
Here's what's funny. An amazing amount of them sneak and eat bacon. PORK bacon. And they like beer, wine or liquor. And they usually tell me that they don't think eating pork or having a drink is a such a sin, and that it's crazy that those who emphasize that will go and blow up innocent people. The Muslim friends I have think that's the sin and they condemn terrorism as much as we do.
Can't we sub this job out to the Israelis?!
The Saudis are big part of the problem, and the failure of the royal family to clean up this hatred is a root cause of trouble. We need to put more pressure on them. As allies go, they're terrible.
They maintain friendships with me.
They never preach at me and accept me as I am. A lot of them will actually discuss religion with me in an open and honest exchange. (I never initiate this - I'm a guest of their country and culture and I respect that.)
Here's what's funny. An amazing amount of them sneak and eat bacon. PORK bacon. And they like beer, wine or liquor. And they usually tell me that they don't think eating pork or having a drink is a such a sin, and that it's crazy that those who emphasize that will go and blow up innocent people. The Muslim friends I have think that's the sin and they condemn terrorism as much as we do.
Can I interest you in a bridge?
That's cute.
How many of them have said to you: "You wouldn't believe what we are thought about Christians and Jews. We wish they wouldn't poison everyone's mind. We are the cause of Islamic terrorism. Spread the word. Stop the the evil."
Those are good points. I've had a similar experience with Muslims I've met. Very normal people. I think the problem is that a small number of people in any country have a "mind" for fundamentalism, and so the dangers come down to the teachings the fundies are washed in. Here it is proselytism. There it is murder.
I remind you that most of the 9-11-01 attackers were saudi arabian.
I found out that at Iranian weddings it's common to pass a flask under the table.
Sabramerican has a right to feel the way she does and the way I see it, you made her feel that she doesn't just because you have a few nice Muslim friends. If you re-read the thread, you will see that she did not bash you personally. Quite frankly, your post did sound "cute" in the manner of the idealism of the Liberals (or maybe Rodney King). "Why can't we all just get along?"
What does this mean? "Saudi Arabians are just weird".
Since you lived in the Middle East, I would be interested in knowing what your experience was with the Saudis.