You are making a mistake.
To remove, persecute or stigmatize the kind of Muslims I came in contact with (In cincy no less! The armpit of the universe) diminishes society.
This broad brush approach is simple and it's easy to apply.
The problem is it doesn't work.
ABC News assumes Islam is a religion of peace, suggesting anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong and that President Bush should have long ago condemned those who dare to criticize the religion. On Monday’s World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings passed along what he suggested were alarming new poll numbers, about the public seeing Islam as encouraging violence and lacking respect for other religions, before turning to Dan Harris for a rundown of anti-Islam comments from evangelical leaders, for none of which Harris bothered to explain how they were wrong.
Harris then blamed President Bush: “Critics suggest the administration waited so long to condemn the statements from leading evangelicals because they didn’t want to alienate a key constituency before the midterm elections.”
Unaddressed in ABC’s screed against the Christian activists and President Bush: Why it is quite rational, given how it was Muslims who declared war on the U.S. and that Muslims have declared a jihad to murder all Jews in Israel, for Americans to see Islam as something less than a peaceful and tolerant religion. Maybe it is, I don’t know, but ABC was more interested in bashing President Bush and conservatives than in enlightening its audience.
Peter Jennings set up the November 18 story, as taken down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: “We’re going to take a closer look tonight at Islam and public opinion. A recent ABC News poll finds that the number of people who have an unfavorable opinion of Islam is up 9 points from 10 months ago to, as you can see there, 33 percent. The number of people who say mainstream Islam encourages violence is also up 9 points. And the number of people who say they think Islam fails to teach respect for other religions has increased by 13 points in the same period. Right after the events of September 11th, President Bush spoke pointedly about the need to respect Islam. Lately, some other people have been speaking out with different voices. Here’s ABC’s Dan Harris.”
Harris began: “The nation’s leading evangelicals have been thundering against Islam.”
Rev. Pat Robertson: “Adolf Hitler was bad, but what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse.”
Rev. Jerry Falwell: “I think Mohammed was a terrorist.” Rev. Jerry Vines: “Islam was founded by Mohammed, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives, and his last one was a nine-year-old girl.”
Harris: “For months, President Bush, who frequently says Islam is a religion of peace, declined to condemn these statements until now.”
George W. Bush, date unlabeled: “Some of the comments that have been uttered about Islam do not reflect the sentiments of my government or the sentiments of most Americans.”
Colin Powell: “This kind of hatred must be rejected. This kind of language must be spoken out against.”
Harris: “Critics suggest the administration waited so long to condemn the statements from leading evangelicals because they didn’t want to alienate a key constituency before the midterm elections. The White House denies this. What is clear is that evangelical attacks on Islam risk further alienating key Arab allies as the U.S. prepares for a possible war with Iraq. When Jerry Falwell called Mohammed a terrorist, it was a hot topic of discussion on Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, and even led to riots in India. Televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, who now says he regrets some of his recent comments-“
Rev. Jimmy Swaggart: “We ought to take, we ought to take every single Muslim student in every college in this nation and ship them back to where they came from.”
Harris: “-he doesn’t worry much about creating diplomatic problems with Arab countries.”
Swaggart: “I feel like it’s my responsibility and my obligation to stand up and to say that which I believe to be the truth. They do the same thing.”
Harris concluded: “Critics say evangelicals are attacking Islam because it’s a good way to drum up passions and donations among their supporters.