Muslims: The Blame Complex

[Furious George]

It seems all too common these days to find someone blamnig Muslims for something. Sadly, some of the time, they are right. But, they also always forget one major fact--there is a FINE line between radical Islam/Muslimism, and Peaceful Muslims/Islam. Of course, who can we blame? Certainly not the media for always having objective information! Don't even think about Bush! He has done nothing but draw the line between radical Islam, and Peaceful Islam!

People, can we be this naive? Our media and governments and now even the Pope has out lashed on the Muslim population blaming them for everything. Soon we will be blaming the Muslims for our wives and husbands leaving us, and for our bikes being stolen.

I ask you this; (aside from my obviously sarcastic opening)


How soon is it until we start blaming Muslims for relatively small problems?

 

[dong]

I recall reading an article that outlined four different major streams of islam, ranging from adaptive to separatist fanatics.

What we're seeing is just another manifestation of same ol' same ol' people being yanked around on a string en masse. On a slightly tangential note, we've already seen various manifestations of racial outbursts in Australia (that made international news, apparently) which I think is reflective of a broader problem of this thing called tolerance.

Rather, the discrepancy between the ideal and the practice. What exactly does being tolerant entail and how does one deal with the inevitable tensions in clashes of ideology? How this is being treated now is indicative of (to me) a general sense that people as a whole are not mature enough or capable of processing the intricacies thrown up from such ideology.

However, the whole blaming muslims for every little thing...I'm not sure whether this will be a reality of the majority- if it does happen then I think it will be a time when people are really desperate for a scapegoat.

 

[Hussar]

Something I would point out with the bit about the Pope. Considering the forum in which he made his now infamous comments, I think that they were taken WAY out of context. It was a scholarly debate about historical issues.

If someone in a university quotes Hitler during a history seminar, does that mean he's an anti-semite?

Given the (over)reactions of certain Islamic groups in the recent past, I'm thinking that they may be protesting a tad too much.

Then again, it would be nice to see 5000 Muslims marching every time there's a bombing in the name of Allah.

But, getting back to the original point, it's really just the same old story. 20 years ago, it was the Big Red Scare. Since that doesn't work anymore, the powers that be simply need yet another bogeyman to distract people.

 

[sarah]

Something I would point out with the bit about the Pope. Considering the forum in which he made his now infamous comments, I think that they were taken WAY out of context. It was a scholarly debate about historical issues.

If someone in a university quotes Hitler during a history seminar, does that mean he's an anti-semite?

Given the (over)reactions of certain Islamic groups in the recent past, I'm thinking that they may be protesting a tad too much.

Then again, it would be nice to see 5000 Muslims marching every time there's a bombing in the name of Allah.

But, getting back to the original point, it's really just the same old story. 20 years ago, it was the Big Red Scare. Since that doesn't work anymore, the powers that be simply need yet another bogeyman to distract people.

I disagree with your saying that the pope’s comments were out of context. I think the comment he made about forcing religion by the sword was out of line simply because, isn’t that exactly what the Catholics did in the middle ages?
I have to say I agree with the bogeyman comment though, there will always be an enemy lurking in the shadows like it or not.

 

[Hussar]

I disagree with your saying that the pope’s comments were out of context. I think the comment he made about forcing religion by the sword was out of line simply because, isn’t that exactly what the Catholics did in the middle ages?

Well, there are two points here. First off, what the RC church may have done in the Middle Ages is somewhat different since the culture was different as well. The idea of human rights didn't exist at the time and wouldn't exist for centuries afterwards. The Romans fed people to lions, does that mean that we should look sideways at the Italians whenever they quote history? Slavery was practiced in America until a little over a century ago. Does that mean that the US can never take a stance on slavery?

We live and we grow. Even the Church does. Any political body which has existed as long as the RC church has lots of skeletons in its closet. That doesn't mean that it cannot take a stance on current affairs. Sure, the RC church has lots of blood on its hands. But, it hasn't done that for quite some time. You could make the arguement that they didn't know any better since no one else was particularly interested in treating eachother decently at the time either.

What's the excuse for the radical Islamic groups? They haven't taken a history class?

/edit - whoops, forgot my second point. :/

The second point is that that the context is being entirely ignored by the media. This was a scholorly debate, not a public forum. These were historians discussing issues. Now, I believe that the Pope has made a serious error in thinking that anything he says is private, but, I do believe that these comments were not intended the way they have been taken.

 

[l99999us]

I am not sure how the pope intended his comments only that i think he should have been more careful. Though i do have to give him credit as he does appear to be working to heal the rift and hopefully reduce religious intolerence.

 

[sarah]

It has all just become a PR nightmare at this point.

 

[Hussar]

The PR storm seems to be possibly settling into something constructive. I see that there are talks to have the leaders of the major groups get together and have a chat. That has to be a good thing. Maybe there will be a silver lining to all of this.

 

[palefrost]

I might consider this view point if it wasn't for the fact that most if not all the time the Muslims i see portrayed in the media are upset over something or someone insulting their religion. This month its the pope.

They even have articles mocking him in the papers and cartoons. Wow cartoons mocking a religious figure. I guess its OK if they do it but not OK if its done to them.....

I think overall the Muslim community is embarrassing itself. The fanatics have taken over and the moderates have been too quiet for to long to fix the bad reputation that now hangs over it.

 

[sarah]

Pale, I have to say I think you are generalizing a bit too much. I agree with some of what you have to say, but I think the scope should be narrowed just a bit.

 

[l99999us]

i agree and hope for the best.....

The PR storm seems to be possibly settling into something constructive. I see that there are talks to have the leaders of the major groups get together and have a chat. That has to be a good thing. Maybe there will be a silver lining to all of this.

 

[dong]

Pale, I have to say I think you are generalizing a bit too much. I agree with some of what you have to say, but I think the scope should be narrowed just a bit.

The generalisation is much of what will drive a societal rift between religious groups, really, so Palefrost's a very relevant point, if not necessarily correct at face value.