Letters to the Editor
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Dhimmitude continues
As Kenneth Ballen noted in The Christian Science Monitor in February of this year, Americans express greater support for "attacks against civilians than any major Muslim country except for Nigeria." Make of that what you will -- and its meaning is debatable -- but those are just facts.
No, these polls are compilations of opinion. Whether they reflect reality is the subject of some debate. According to Pew only 40% of American Muslims think Arabs did 9/11. As Glenn has pointed out some 70% of Americans thought Saddam did it. 78% thought so on 9/13. And then there is the 30 some odd percent of some group that thinks GWB knew about 9/11 before hand. Rosie O'Donnell is America! Heh.
OTOH It's very hard to reconcile these apparent attitudes with the overwhelming predilection for terrorists to attack civilians only. Discos, weddings, the markets, subways, office buildings, hospitals, etc. Perhaps Americans remember attacking civilians was the way of winning WW2. Or maybe they understand the difficulty of fighting an enemy camouflaged as civilians.
Interestingly, Glenn's mitigating examples of Abortion clinic bombers and immigration militants, doesn't address religion. Just single issues. they may be related in some ways, but one does not cause the other in the same direct way Imams direct fatwas.
Let's hear something about Islam's subjugation of women for a change, or maybe it's homophobia. How about the amazement of all, that London's bombers came from the very same sorts of families lionized here. How about a little reality balance for a change?
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Stick to the subject, please
[i]Let's hear something about Islam's subjugation of women for a change, or maybe it's homophobia. How about the amazement of all, that London's bombers came from the very same sorts of families lionized here. How about a little reality balance for a change?[/i]
Let's hear your evidence about where this occurs within the American Muslim community (that is what this issue is all about, after all).
Nothing, huh? Move along then...
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Please
Quit bringing up the GOP. This poll is not about them. It is about the roughly 500,000 Muslim Americans who are okay with attacking civilians. Violent attacks against civilians. I'm frustrated by the poll. These Muslim-Americans supposedly left intolerant countries for the most tolerant one, then they decide to favor violent attacks against civilians. That's disheartening. (I am assuming there are no native american muslims)
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So what are Malkin, Steyn, and Goldberg proposing?
A few fringe jihadists here, a few fringe jihadists there, and soon you’re talking about bloody real numbers. -- Michelle Malkin
I noticed that for all the “hair raising” alarm Malkin, Steyn, Goldberg and Co. are raising none of them propose any specific actions or suggest what, if anything, should be done about what they see as a vast homegrown jihadist threat – at least in the articles cited.
They are sowing the seeds of hatred and mistrust, and they are actively working to alienate the Muslim community from American society even though that alienation would actually increase the potential for terrorism.
So what, specifically, are they proposing?
Have any of them been explicit in their obvious desire to live in a “national security state” replete with concentration camps, the banning of Islam and the expulsion of its adherents? Have they been asked?
I’ve heard Malkin deny that she supports concentration camps for Muslims, in spite of her book on the subject of internment. But she never offers any substantive ideas or anything except fear, hatred and anger.
Usually when people run around with their hair on fire screaming they are advocating something. What?
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I'm perfused about the commentors
Are you "dissenters" the same two or three people changing your commenter names from time to time, or are you actually different people. The reason I ask is because I've noticed that your comments are more than repetitive, they're starting to look like cut-and-paste.
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big numbers are scary
Quit bringing up the GOP. This poll is not about them. It is about the roughly 500,000 Muslim Americans who are okay with attacking civilians.
The rate of approval of violence among American Muslims cannot be meaningfully interpreted without comparison to the background rates of approval of violence among Americans in general, and certain demographic subsets of Americans in particular.
America is a very violent-minded country. Look how quickly and easily we got into an interminable war with a country that had not attacked us.
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Really?
Interestingly, Glenn's mitigating examples of Abortion clinic bombers and immigration militants, doesn't address religion. Just single issues. they may be related in some ways, but one does not cause the other in the same direct way Imams direct fatwas.
I fail to see the distinction between an abortion clinic bomber like Eric Rudolph, blowing up abortion clinics and gay bars in the name of the "Army of God", and any other religious fanatic or terrorist. I also fail to see the distinction between Christian groups that post lists of abortion clinic doctors they advocate taking out and radical imams who issue lethal fatwas.
I do, however, see a huge distinction between a friend of mine who keeps halal, attends mosque on Fridays, and fasts on Ramzan, and the people committing honor killings in Pakistan. He would never do such a thing. His wife has a career, he wants his daughter to get into a good school, he works 60 hours a week, he dislikes terrorism just as much as you do.
But he also didn't particularly like the way he was treated in 2001-2, doesn't like it that the government keeps an open file on him, and believes he understands what drove bin Laden and the 9/11 terrorists, although he doesn't agree with them, and he doesn't believe we've been told the whole story on that and many other terrorist incidents.
So what does that make him?
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God, Country, Family
Glenn wrote today:
The reality of that Pew poll is that, generally and comparatively speaking, it demonstrates just how unremarkable, assimilated, peaceful and consummately American is the American Muslim population.
And yesterday Glenn had pointed out that among those whipping up hysteria about Muslim-Americans is the finding that many Muslims:
(b) think of themselves as "Muslims first," rather than "Americans first";
At a memorial for Iraq/Afghanistan war dead in the Milwaukee, WI area:
The square of granite, 12 inches on each side, was inscribed "God Country Family."
http://www.war-veterans.org/Grieve.htm
This is a standard, routine iteration of the general Xian view that God comes before all else, including country and family. Jehovah's Witnesses will not even say the Pledge of Allegiance because they beleive it is idolatrous. I guess we should be all up in arms (literally) about them as well.