[.cnI redruM]

Here's a good one to ponder. Is Islam more unpopular because we are fighting a war against Muslims? Or is it more unpopular because Americans are reading and learning more about the religion? (Perhaps Both)

[TrebleRebel]

Moderates, by definition, will never have a loud voice. And Muslims, by definition, cannot be moderate. So its just inevitable that moderate Islam will always be overshadowed or killed-off by their more consistent "Muslim brothers."

[abclily]

It is more unpopular because we are reading and learning more about the religion. Islam teaches its members that they will be rewarded for murdering innocent people who hold different views from the teachings of Muhammad.

[tell me]

Americans are also learning more everyday about how many Muslims live in our country. Prior to 9/11 we didn't give that a thought.

[samtheman]

Two bad that the average American has zero influence over these two branches of US government:

1. State Department visa-mills in foreign countries.

2. The US Border Welcome Department

[Conservative4Ever]

More people understanding the religion. One interesting note...a book written 'Tea with Terrorists' the authors state that the Muslims who do not believe in the killing of infidels are not true Muslims. Yes, the Koran really, really means what it says. Death to all infidels.

Red

[veronica]

One of the most touching reactions by most Americans to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, was their eagerness to avoid stereotypes about Islam and its faithful.

Perhaps two years of non-stop terrorist attacks by Islamofascists has put a dent in the so-called eagerness of Americans not to "stereotype".

[.cnI redruM]

So far, I've heard some of both. Islamicists always try to sell the spin that OBL is a an outlier like McVeigh or The Unibomber. There just seem to be so many outliers out there that noone can really see the center of mass.

[happygrl]

One highly respected U.S. Muslim willing to be quoted was Yemen-born Abdulwahab Alkebsi, who has dedicated his career in the United States to promoting the compatibility between Islam and democracy... Alkebsi said, "What bothers me the most is this: In the eyes of the American elite, political Islamist movements using violence to reach their goals have become representative of Islam." Alkebsi urged a two-pronged response to this dilemma: "In this country, American Muslim organizations must educate the U.S. that Islam is compatible with democracy, pluralism and even secularism."

NO.

Americans DON'T NEED EDUCATING.

What Muslims must do is DEMONSTRATE BY THEIR WORDS AND ACTIONS THAT THEY HAVE RENOUNCED VIOLENCE AS A MEANS OF PROMULGATING THEIR FAITH.

This means denouncing CAIR and other Muslim advocacy groups that spread lies.

It means denouncing and reforming the "education" that is carried on in Wahabbi funded Islamic schools, EVEN IN THE U.S.

The Pew Report shows that there is no time to lose. Not only is the number of Americans equating Islam with violence steadily increasing. But the share of U.S. citizens believing that all, most or at least half of all Muslims around the world are anti-American has also risen from 36 to almost 50 percent since March 2002.

DUH.

THAT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE ANTI-AMERICAN, AS SHOWN BY POLL AFTER POLL!!!

Is Islam more unpopular because we are fighting a war against Muslims? Or is it more unpopular because Americans are reading and learning more about the religion? (Perhaps Both)

NEITHER.

It's because of what Muslims are doing throughout the world.

It is their own actions (and the lack of renouncement and the equivocation of the response by Muslims) which cause them to be viewed as violent.

[Voice in your head]

Both. The Taliban identified themselves not as citizens of Afghanistan, but as Muslims. So, in Afghanistan, it is easy to see why Muslims are regarded as the enemy, rather than Afghani's - even though most of the Muslims there are not our enemy (which is why we can get away with such a small military force there). With an enemy identified as Muslim, people begin to read about the religion. And, since the combination of issues associated with popular perception of Islam - war, civil rights, and political correctness - make this a polarizing issue, there are a lot of books with a very slanted position on the topic of Islam. People read these books because of the polarizing political nature of them and because so many people are, for whatever reason, interested in other people's lives.

There are hundreds of millions of Muslims. If Islam were the great evil that some think it to be, we would be engaged in a World War which would require the focus of all of our resources - not just a handful of divisions, doing Stability and Support Operations and occasional, small-scale combat missions.

[TalBlack]

Here's a good one to ponder. Is Islam more unpopular because we are fighting a war against Muslims? Or is it more unpopular because Americans are reading and learning more about the religion? (Perhaps Both)


Indeed, in the case of Islam (The Religion of the Bogus Prophet) familarity breeds fear and loathing.

[FixitGuy]

I mistrust and fear Muslims.

God told me they're evil pagans and we must destroy them all! (/sarcasm)

[cardinal4]

They keep saying that Islam needs to educate the masses, but there is never any condemnation of the atrocities. Americans equate Islam with violence because Islam doesnt dispute it. All we ever hear is how muslims are badly treated, never how badly they feel about the people jumping out of the South Tower.

[Lady Heron]

Two years on, this religion's image has drastically deteriorated,

Two years ago very few people knew anything about the religion, and believed the press and President when they said it was a religion of peace. People have now had time to learn what the religion teaches. There is no way for an informed person to say that it is a religion of peace, it is just a cult of evil.