What diaspora?
For Jews, diaspora is all lands other than Israel. The term arose from the Biblical description of G-d granting them that land. This use of the word "diaspora" is religious, with well-identifiable foundations.
Armenians, who are also one of the most scattered peoples, use this term to designate inhabitants of lands other than Armenia proper. This use of the word "diaspora" is nationalistic, with well-identifiable national boundaries.
Christians and Buddhists do not have a diaspora because none of their holy books speak of any designated land. So, what is the Islamic diaspora?
All religions have places holy to them. Thus, Muslims have Mecca and Madina. But which land exactly is "Muslim land?" Are Turks in the diaspora too? What about Albanians?
That is where your problem lies. You have heard this all your life that being an American is "being abroad," being "torn away" somehow. You are not more abroad than a Swedish or Italian American --- unless you choose to view yourself as foreigner in America.
What kind of conflicting feelings arise when YOUR country is attacked? What other feelings besides “I am going to get those bastards!” could you possibly have? Why do you think of them as Muslims rather that “bloody bastards?”
I can tell you why: because you have been indoctrinated to accept the double standard, namely, a Muslim has lesser moral obligations to a non-Muslim than to his fellow co-religionist. You know it perfectly well: to take virginity from a non-Muslim woman is not much of a sin (“she is a whore anyway” --- you have heard this many times). To take a life of an infidel is not as big of a crime as to kill another Muslim, etc. As part of this double standard, you feel conflicted to side with a non-Muslim against a Muslim.
And this is the source of anguish for many Muslim Americans. You feel that the rest of the Americans accuse you unfairly; you sometimes you don’t even understand what they want. And these misunderstood criticism you view as anti-Islam prejudice. Indeed, what else?
Here is what else: in the modern Western World, we side with what is right against what is wrong, regardless of the identity of the actors. This is what we mean by saying that we are a nation of “laws not men.” You should know as an American. Even more so as a law student.
To determine whether a deed is right or wrong, we us the Judeo-Christian system of values, which I believe you generally accept as well. Once this is decided, it does not matter whether the person who perpetrated the deed is Christian or not. Thus, a Christian will have no problem siding with a Muslim or a Jew against another Christian who committed a wrong. Similarly, your non-Muslim neighbors expect you to be appalled by and angry with the September attackers. But you cannot be: you cannot side with a Christian against a Muslim. You have been told so since childhood.
But this is precisely what makes your neighbors angry with you because they would have never done so. Had a Christian or a Jew viciously attacked a mosque, your Christian and Jewish neighbors would have no problem whatsoever coming to your defense: the attacker was wrong and his religion is irrelevant. Think about that.
If you need, you will find many examples in the lives of ordinary Americans. As a nation, too, we came to the defense of Muslim Kosovars against Christians. The Russians opposed us at the time: like Arabs, they are taught from childhood to defend another Slav. This mentality will explain to you why the Muslim world is not shocked by a slaughter of 20,000 people by Asad in Syria; Saddam Hussein’s killing of thousands of Kurds by nerve gas; or, murder of schoolchildren in Algeria by the fundamentalists. For as long as the killing is between Muslims it is a question of politics, whereas a killing of a Muslim by an infidel is a moral issue and causes outrage.
With the exception of a few ignorami, Americans have no anti-Islamic feelings. But they were shocked to find their Mohammedan fellow Americans to be "conflicted" about the attacks. Indeed, it is hard to find a clearer wrong then the atrocity of September 11, yet you do not side against it. Observe that even in this post, having quite some time to reflect on the issue, you complain about the treatment you receive from non-Muslim Americans, yet say nothing about the Muslim attackers.
I am afraid you are no longer conflicted. Whereas a conflicted person is searching for the truth, you found it. It lies with the Muslims, regardless of what they have done, currently do, or may do in the future.
In this great country, you a free to think what you want. But the rest of us are also free to view your position as anti-American.
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P.S. In case I am wrong and your mind is not entirely closed, I'll add a few words. Every single immigrant and the child of immigrants has gone through the feelings you now have: how much loyalty do I ow to my Irish (Italian, Jewish, Colombian, Jamaican) heritage, and how much of the English traditions should I adopt. In most cases, the immigrants came from less tolerant countries and cultures, from less democratic cultures, from less open cultures.
For centuries, the greatest gift that America gave to those who arrive to her shores has been this: a chance to understand fully that some things absorbed with mother's milk are wrong; that you do not want to pass them to your children. It is in this way that we udnerstand and discard the prejudices with which we grew up in the "old country." As a result of this reflection, you remain a Catholic, Jew or Muslim; you remain Italian or Vietnamese in customs and the second language; but you become an American. And all the feelings of conflict go away.
I wish you success on that yourney.
Your use of example to clarify the differences between Islam and Christianity kept me following along, nodding in agreement as I read. Most impressive. Please post often!