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Hope ever arises - or should we be optimistic?Reader comment on item: The Enemy Has a Name Submitted by The Grand Infidel of Kaffiristan (Australia), Jul 9, 2008 at 03:32 Yes, Proud Indian and others, there is certainly a lot of blame from Muslim posters toward the British, US, Israel, the 'West' , Crusaders etc etc. It seems to be a common theme amongst many of them. They don't seem to understand the common factor as you pointed out. However, it's not so much Muslims that are the problem - it's their limiting belief systems. There is hope. A Muslim taken out of the deleterious environment of the 'Muslim' meme can successfully divest themselves of their ignorance. We see this in the effect that living in a western secular environment has on many Muslim people here in the West. 2nd generation Muslimsy with any intelligence are acutely embarassed about the well-earnt reputation for backwardness that so many people coming from Muslim countries have. Certain groups congregate in certain areas and become well-known for thuggery and criminality. Of course there's good and bad in every crowd - but they seem to be over-represented in judicial system. It may have something to do with having to adopt and almost schizoid personality - caused by their parent's belief that they are the creme de la creme of humanity versus society's general view which is quite the opposite. Those 2nd generation Muslims of any intelligence who do manage to develop into useful citizens (and still stay Muslim) are often acutely aware of the embarassing baggage that Muslim cultures have in general such as cousin marriages, appalling treatment of women for 'crimes' (that are not crimes in Western cultures), Sharia Law , that their 'prophet' had a nine year old wife when he was in his fifties - one of at least a dozen, flying carpets, beheadings, stoning people to death, Mecca, buraks, polygamy, the almost obligatory hatred of Jews and Israel, having to wear a beard and that whole arab machismo thing... where do we stop? ((NB: still haven't heard back from Mr Khaled where he stated that oppressive Sharia Law was not introduced into any Muslim countries when he stated '.......there are no Muslim countries with such laws.' see: http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/133999 the fact that Sudan has 'in accordance with Shari'a law, the Criminal Act provides for physical punishments including flogging, amputation, stonings, and crucifixion – in this case the public display of a body after execution. ' even surprised me Which means Mr. Khaled is either deliberately misleading readers (a.k.a. lying) or woefully ignorant of the extent of such a barbaric system which is based on the same Islamic beliefs he so fondly regards as being superior to all others. How could he not know? If he did not know - what are he and other fair-minded like him in the Muslim community going to do about such state-sanctioned atrocities afflicted on living human being?? Throwing hands up into the air and stating something like it's 'Allah's will' seems a bit of a cop-out - and perhaps an indication of implicit agreement with these crimes.) I'm digressing. What is refreshing is to hear how western acculturated Muslims state they feel freer and less inhibited than other Muslims when they travel to Hajj or go to visit people in the lands of their ancestors. (N.B. not all arabs hail from oil-rich gulf states and have a rosey-eyed view of Islam.) They find local customs and belief quaint but backward. They are aware that their internal freedom and higher expectations of life are in no small way a product of their secular, non-Muslim western environment. So many of them express gratitude to be living back in the West when they return. It is not surprising that many 2nd generation Muslims , much to the chagrin of their elders, become only nominally Muslim after a relatively short time. It is encouraging to see some openly criticise the beliefs of their less westernised peers as being arcane fables. Of course not all western-educated Muslims appreciate how good they have it . As we all know there are some (stupidity knows no bounds) who would like us to believe in their fantasies, do what they do and see it as their mission to expand the general size of the 'Umma' . We saw this in the home-grown terrorism behind the London bombings - where Western well-educated , British born 'freedom fighters' struck yet another blow for ignorance and hatred. Obviously these were disaffected individuals with a very poor sense of self worth and definitely no real self-respect. If Muslims were honest - this is the type of individual who makes up the alledged growth in Western converts to Islam. Yet blame also goes to their religion - which can be so easily misinterpreted to such an extent that a person with a lot of anger and a victim mentality can find Infidels hiding behind every rock and tree... (how does that quote go again?) Again, there is hope. This very medium we are using right now is part of the process whereby the oppressed within Islam and by Islam can start to redress the wrongs done against them. Such groups as http://pnews.org/ArT/AiS/SO.shtml appear with increasing frequency seeking to redress very valid issues that are at the rotten core of many Muslim cultures. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (804) on this item
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