Safety

Submitted by Yaakov Watkins (United States), Jan 11, 2007 at 22:22

Freedom of religion in the US is kind of an intellectual truce where we all agree not to lock up the idiots we disagree with unless they are dangerous. The idiots we disagree with are presumed to be not dangerous until shown otherwise.

In Moslem countries, all Christians are suspect because of the Crusades, even sects of Christianity which did not exist then.

9/11 was sufficient evidence for many American non-Moslems that Moslems are dangerous that they take action to protect themselves. Until American Moslems succeed in publicly disassociating themselves with the Moslems who commit terror, all Moslems will be suspect.

Many people want more evidence that Moslems are dangerous before they will take action. They want me to bet the lives of my family that they are right and I am wrong. I don't want to make that bet. Sorry. I want to be more careful than they do. They refuse to err on the side of safety as we do in other areas of public safety.

How can peaceful American Moslems disassociate themselves with militant Moslems? By explaining to all the idiots how we can tell the difference between the dangerous Moslems and the non-dangerous Moslems. Once I know that, I will feel safe.

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".