Who is alienating Muslims?

Submitted by Deb (United States), Dec 13, 2002 at 00:48

Why is it that anyone who criticizes what he or she perceives as Islamist extremism is admonished to stop alienating muslims--any muslims? I am Jewish, and I hear epithets every day--mostly from Muslims by the way--and they aren't alienating me in any way. I could care less about them because they are only words. If they come after me with guns and bombs, well then, now they are alienating me, but careful, they are alienating ME if they come after ME. If they come after another Jew somewhere else in the world, they are only alienating me if I perceive that they would come after me for the same reason. So, when terrorists attack Jews because they are Jewish, then they alienate me. For once and for all get it through your heads that the US is not attacking anyone BECAUSE they are Muslim. We are a secular state, and we have Muslims in our military. We are attacking people because those people threaten our lives, period. If the majority of those attacked happen to be Muslim, it's a coincidence, nothing more. You see, unlike most Muslim countries, we don't rally our people to fight by saying "kill the Muslims." Strangely enough, I do often hear "kill the jews" "kill the infidel (people who are not muslim, i.e., Christians, Druze, etc...)."

So who is alienating who?

And while you're answering that, think about this one: Why is it that every defense put forth by a so-called "moderate" muslim on this board includes some sort of veiled (or not so veiled) threat or promise that the West is doomed and that they--the so-called moderate muslims--will rule the world someday? Moderate and tolerant by definition doesn't rule anything.

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