Afraid of backlash against Muslims

[Anonymous]

As an Iranian American Muslim living in the US for the past 35 years, this is the first time I'm personally feeling hate against all Muslims in general. I definitely didn't feel like this after 9/11. I think it has to do with the fact that 2 potential Presidential candidates are spewing hate against Muslims and the fact that one of them may be president next year. This is terrifying to me. Somehow the way that they are verbalizing this type of hate on national TV day in day out will give it credibility and give the impression that it's OK to be a racist...because hey our leaders are doing it.

[takoma]

Steve Russell, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma, has spoken out on the House floor against this descent into intolerance. I think the tide of sanity is rising.

[Anonymous]

takoma wrote:Steve Russell, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma, has spoken out on the House floor against this descent into intolerance. I think the tide of sanity is rising.

Another Muslim American here. I hope you're right.

[Anonymous]

Me, too. Married to an Arab Muslim and have Muslim kids. It's unbelievable. A Sikh man was just brutally attacked in Chicago, with the assailant calling him a terrorist. Mosques are being vandalized left and right. Two American citizens were temporarily banned from boarding their flight because some other passenger was terrified they were speaking Arabic to one another. Hate crimes against Muslims (or perceived Muslims) have increased by 50% since all those Pam Geller campaigns came out a couple of years ago. I bet it's through the roof now with the disgusting rhetoric from most Republican presidential candidates.

George Bush, as much as I didn't like him, stressed over and over that Islam is not the enemy. It is a message that has much more power, unfortunately, coming from a white Christian man, than from a black suspected Muslim one.

[Anonymous]

I think it is due to Isis and its increasingly barbaric and archaic violence against innocents that keeps escalating. The series of beheadings followed by throwing those poor gay men off buildings and posting on youtube tipped the balance for me and many others. That and the islamic world's horrific attitude towards the human rights of women and religious minorities.

Unfortunately that mentality is front and center and there is no strong public example coming from that part of the world that their values are compatible to religious liberty, human rights and freedom of thought and lifestyle.

Perhaps it is a PR issue from the muslim world? Maybe if there was more horror at the idea of sharia law, oppression of women, persecution of gays, Christians, religious minorities, etc coming from public leaders in that part of the world there wouldn't be as much fear of Islam.

Also, whenever US muslims go on TV to speak up, their approach is always "this is not Islam". However Isis and radical imans say over and over that they ARE Islam. I think those muslims would be better off acknowledging this in some way, perhaps labeling them as an animalistic cult of Islam instead of just saying they have nothing to do with Islam. When there are pew polls coming out of that part of the world saying that muslims support things like stoning women and suicide bombings by vast numbers, it is hard to separate the two for many people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is due to Isis and its increasingly barbaric and archaic violence against innocents that keeps escalating. The series of beheadings followed by throwing those poor gay men off buildings and posting on youtube tipped the balance for me and many others. That and the islamic world's horrific attitude towards the human rights of women and religious minorities.

Unfortunately that mentality is front and center and there is no strong public example coming from that part of the world that their values are compatible to religious liberty, human rights and freedom of thought and lifestyle.

Perhaps it is a PR issue from the muslim world? Maybe if there was more horror at the idea of sharia law, oppression of women, persecution of gays, Christians, religious minorities, etc coming from public leaders in that part of the world there wouldn't be as much fear of Islam.

Also, whenever US muslims go on TV to speak up, their approach is always "this is not Islam". However Isis and radical imans say over and over that they ARE Islam. I think those muslims would be better off acknowledging this in some way, perhaps labeling them as an animalistic cult of Islam instead of just saying they have nothing to do with Islam. When there are pew polls coming out of that part of the world saying that muslims support things like stoning women and suicide bombings by vast numbers, it is hard to separate the two for many people.

They are Islam like the Westboro Baptist Church is Chrisitianity. Westboro swear they are Christians. Do we take them at their word? They are the same type of wacky outlier as ISIS is to Islam.

[Anonymous]

My wife is half Syrian, half Iraqi. I am also a woman and we have a son. Last night she said "I've felt so much hatred against me for so long, either because I'm married to a woman or because I'm Middle Eastern. It makes me so angry." And I felt so, so sad. Didn't know what to say, except that it made me angry, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me, too. Married to an Arab Muslim and have Muslim kids. It's unbelievable. A Sikh man was just brutally attacked in Chicago, with the assailant calling him a terrorist. Mosques are being vandalized left and right. Two American citizens were temporarily banned from boarding their flight because some other passenger was terrified they were speaking Arabic to one another. Hate crimes against Muslims (or perceived Muslims) have increased by 50% since all those Pam Geller campaigns came out a couple of years ago. I bet it's through the roof now with the disgusting rhetoric from most Republican presidential candidates.

George Bush, as much as I didn't like him, stressed over and over that Islam is not the enemy. It is a message that has much more power, unfortunately, coming from a white Christian man, than from a black suspected Muslim one.

Although I find the behavior you're describing deplorable, I don't find it unbelievable. People here are terrified because of these extremist psychos- who happen to be Muslims. It will pass, but I frankly wish people were more upset with the lack of response and assistance from the middle east, rather than blaming understandably frightened Americans for their fears and behaviors.

[Anonymous]

I feel REALLY bad for the Sikhs. You know some of them are going to get their asses kicked, just because they wear a turban, and they aren't even Muslim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me, too. Married to an Arab Muslim and have Muslim kids. It's unbelievable. A Sikh man was just brutally attacked in Chicago, with the assailant calling him a terrorist. Mosques are being vandalized left and right. Two American citizens were temporarily banned from boarding their flight because some other passenger was terrified they were speaking Arabic to one another. Hate crimes against Muslims (or perceived Muslims) have increased by 50% since all those Pam Geller campaigns came out a couple of years ago. I bet it's through the roof now with the disgusting rhetoric from most Republican presidential candidates.

George Bush, as much as I didn't like him, stressed over and over that Islam is not the enemy. It is a message that has much more power, unfortunately, coming from a white Christian man, than from a black suspected Muslim one.

Although I find the behavior you're describing deplorable, I don't find it unbelievable. People here are terrified because of these extremist psychos- who happen to be Muslims. It will pass, but I frankly wish people were more upset with the lack of response and assistance from the middle east, rather than blaming understandably frightened Americans for their fears and behaviors.

The middle eastern countries could be leading all efforts to contain ISIS and these "frightened Americans" would STILL be doing stupid stuff like this. If you don't possess the basic knowledge that a sikh is not a muslim, chances are you don't have the knowledge to understand what is happening overseas so it wouldn't make a difference. It's quite easy to differentiate a sikh from a muslim (one useful hint is that muslims in America don't wear turbans, except in video games)

[Anonymous]

I think Trump had a chance at winning up until he started getting carried away with his anti-Muslim agenda. I would support more through background checks on refugees and even investigating mosques with extremist membership or ties to terrorists. But thinking that every Muslim should card some type of special card? I'm not Muslim, but as someone of Middle Eastern descent, I think he wants America to go backwards. I think it is important for the next President to care about all of his constituents, not just white ones. I'm a little disappointed that I'm going to have to vote for a Democrat since all of the Republicans are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me, too. Married to an Arab Muslim and have Muslim kids. It's unbelievable. A Sikh man was just brutally attacked in Chicago, with the assailant calling him a terrorist. Mosques are being vandalized left and right. Two American citizens were temporarily banned from boarding their flight because some other passenger was terrified they were speaking Arabic to one another. Hate crimes against Muslims (or perceived Muslims) have increased by 50% since all those Pam Geller campaigns came out a couple of years ago. I bet it's through the roof now with the disgusting rhetoric from most Republican presidential candidates.

George Bush, as much as I didn't like him, stressed over and over that Islam is not the enemy. It is a message that has much more power, unfortunately, coming from a white Christian man, than from a black suspected Muslim one.

Although I find the behavior you're describing deplorable, I don't find it unbelievable. People here are terrified because of these extremist psychos- who happen to be Muslims. It will pass, but I frankly wish people were more upset with the lack of response and assistance from the middle east, rather than blaming understandably frightened Americans for their fears and behaviors.

we created the vaccum in Iraq where ISIS was born. Egypt and Jordan are fighting Isis but they can barely feed their people. They need to be a part of the solution but should not be solely responsible for cleaning up our mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is due to Isis and its increasingly barbaric and archaic violence against innocents that keeps escalating. The series of beheadings followed by throwing those poor gay men off buildings and posting on youtube tipped the balance for me and many others. That and the islamic world's horrific attitude towards the human rights of women and religious minorities.

Unfortunately that mentality is front and center and there is no strong public example coming from that part of the world that their values are compatible to religious liberty, human rights and freedom of thought and lifestyle.

Perhaps it is a PR issue from the muslim world? Maybe if there was more horror at the idea of sharia law, oppression of women, persecution of gays, Christians, religious minorities, etc coming from public leaders in that part of the world there wouldn't be as much fear of Islam.

Also, whenever US muslims go on TV to speak up, their approach is always "this is not Islam". However Isis and radical imans say over and over that they ARE Islam. I think those muslims would be better off acknowledging this in some way, perhaps labeling them as an animalistic cult of Islam instead of just saying they have nothing to do with Islam. When there are pew polls coming out of that part of the world saying that muslims support things like stoning women and suicide bombings by vast numbers, it is hard to separate the two for many people.

They are Islam like the Westboro Baptist Church is Chrisitianity. Westboro swear they are Christians. Do we take them at their word? They are the same type of wacky outlier as ISIS is to Islam.

Westboro baptist is a small cult of Christianity. However, they are small, mostly related, not sponsored by a state, and not endorsed by any national or religious leaders. They do not preach in multiple churches. They do not blow people up, behead innocents, stone women, or throw gay people off roof. When they come out to protest, scores of Christians counterprotest, publicly decry their beliefs and drown them out. If you took a survey of any random sample of Christians, you would not find 60, 70, 80% support for their beliefs and what they preach.

The hate of Isis is led by many Imans. Taught in madrasas to young children. Sponsored or encouraged by many governments in that area. Violent sharia law that is imcompatible with freedom and liberty is endorsed by vast majority of those in that part of the world. Violent death for gays or those suspected of being gay. Persecution of those who have different religions. Persecution and oppression of women and girls.

The support for radical islam in that part of the world is probably equal to the hatred of Westboro baptist in this part of the world.

My heart is saddened by OP and others like her. But to blame Donald Trump alone is not getting at the issue of what is causing this fear of muslims. He is just the voice to the fear that many feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

we created the vaccum in Iraq where ISIS was born. Egypt and Jordan are fighting Isis but they can barely feed their people. They need to be a part of the solution but should not be solely responsible for cleaning up our mess.

We remind me of Tom and Daisy Buchanan in the Great Gatsby. As Nick observes at the end:

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . ."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is due to Isis and its increasingly barbaric and archaic violence against innocents that keeps escalating. The series of beheadings followed by throwing those poor gay men off buildings and posting on youtube tipped the balance for me and many others. That and the islamic world's horrific attitude towards the human rights of women and religious minorities.

Unfortunately that mentality is front and center and there is no strong public example coming from that part of the world that their values are compatible to religious liberty, human rights and freedom of thought and lifestyle.

Perhaps it is a PR issue from the muslim world? Maybe if there was more horror at the idea of sharia law, oppression of women, persecution of gays, Christians, religious minorities, etc coming from public leaders in that part of the world there wouldn't be as much fear of Islam.

Also, whenever US muslims go on TV to speak up, their approach is always "this is not Islam". However Isis and radical imans say over and over that they ARE Islam. I think those muslims would be better off acknowledging this in some way, perhaps labeling them as an animalistic cult of Islam instead of just saying they have nothing to do with Islam. When there are pew polls coming out of that part of the world saying that muslims support things like stoning women and suicide bombings by vast numbers, it is hard to separate the two for many people.

They are Islam like the Westboro Baptist Church is Chrisitianity. Westboro swear they are Christians. Do we take them at their word? They are the same type of wacky outlier as ISIS is to Islam.

Westboro baptist is a small cult of Christianity. However, they are small, mostly related, not sponsored by a state, and not endorsed by any national or religious leaders. They do not preach in multiple churches. They do not blow people up, behead innocents, stone women, or throw gay people off roof. When they come out to protest, scores of Christians counterprotest, publicly decry their beliefs and drown them out. If you took a survey of any random sample of Christians, you would not find 60, 70, 80% support for their beliefs and what they preach.

The hate of Isis is led by many Imans. Taught in madrasas to young children. Sponsored or encouraged by many governments in that area. Violent sharia law that is imcompatible with freedom and liberty is endorsed by vast majority of those in that part of the world. Violent death for gays or those suspected of being gay. Persecution of those who have different religions. Persecution and oppression of women and girls.

The support for radical islam in that part of the world is probably equal to the hatred of Westboro baptist in this part of the world.

My heart is saddened by OP and others like her. But to blame Donald Trump alone is not getting at the issue of what is causing this fear of muslims. He is just the voice to the fear that many feel.

No, they are the same in that they take their little warped sliver of their religion and grab tight. I'm talking about the mentality not the actions. And there are many Christians who support their anti-gay agenda.