Tal, I spent a month working with Palestinians from near the Jenin Refugee camp this summer, as well as with Arab Israelis from Afula and Nazareth. I've studied with Muslims from Mauritania and Iraq over the past year. And they have displayed greater tolerance, wisdom, and understanding then you with all your jingling swords.
I am disgusted to see you label a religion as such. There are extremists in every religion, from Hinduism to Islam to Christianity. The trick is not to use that shade of color when painting stereotypes.
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His political and religous views are that Israel needs to be wiped off the map. He's said it publically many times; most recently this week.
Yeah, Amadinejad is a nasty guy, I've volunteered for Amnesty International and from the information I've seen he's a lot worse than threatening words to the people of Iran. But he's also a radical minority ruling over a growing secular population and much of his anti-Israel rhetoric is as much maintaining internal control through an artificial enemy (like Iraq) as it is foreign policy. The best way to defeat such ignorant, self-gratifying fundamentalists is by NOT replicating their worse traits.
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Lines are being drawn. Sides are being chosen. It WILL come down to us, or them, and I don't mean just the freak Islam boys. I mean the entire religion. Not very PC to say, but its the truth nonetheless.
How about instead of complaining about an inevitable war, doing a little bit to disarm conflict when you see it. Join Amnesty, or if you've already stereotyped that group try just saying "hi" to a Muslim to let them know that they're not isolated from the rest of the world. Many Arabs and Muslims who have moved to the western world are often isolated because of their different appearance and beliefs, helping to ease them into our societies will go a long way in keeping them from falling in with the wrong crowd.
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Theus, your worry is pointed towards the wrong religion I am afraid.
My aim isn't on any religion, yours or theirs. It is on individuals, such as yourself and Amadinejad who seem to think that some apocalyptic conclusion is necessary to justify your beliefs. The power of such a sentiment, particularly when espoused by leaders of nations, is very dangerous.
Such religious and apocalyptic religion fueled the Crusades, particularly in the latter half concerning the re-conquest of Jerusalem. We can see how accurate such reasoning was then, and guess how accurate it is now. The apocalypse always looms, and we are always special for it.
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Oh, and then there is Hugo Chaves who has been quoted as saying that he feels love and compassion for all the Arab people, and might actually be Arab himself.
So, after this post I see cards are on the table. There is a difference between Arab and Muslim, ask any Christian who lives in Nazareth or Jerusalem. And I am no more threatened by Chavez if he followed Islam than if he followed Christianity. Actually, not afraid of him at all. That he as a leftist and was elected in his country and has survived a coup suggests that a large body of his people share his beliefs, and our behavior as a nation (I'm assuming you're American here), has stimulated this response. It’s our responsibility to be better at foreign relations and do better business to disarm such anti-American sentiment at its root.
Very few people do things because they are trying to be evil, the vast majority of us are doing things we think are good based on the limited information we have. Hopefully with time the internet and other mediums will help corrode such differences in reality perception. The world will never perfect, but there's no reason that it can't be reasonable for everyone.
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Theus
Edited by Theus, : Small typo at the front and forgot to add a title
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