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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]How about we take these terrorists on their word? They say they are doing it for Allah. I say we believe them.

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I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is your applying what they say about themselves to all other Muslims.

ISIS has been very clear in its propaganda that one of its goals is to erase the "gray area" that exists between Muslims and the West. Communists use to call this "heightening the contradictions". They want to cause Muslims to choose between groups like ISIS and the West and the more that the West demonstrates that it is anti-Islamic, the more likely Muslims will be to choose ISIS. So, all of you who believe that blaming the entire religion is an acceptable or useful strategy are actually playing into the hands of ISIS. I doubt that is what you want to do. The best strategy is to focus your anger and hatred like a laser on that small number of Muslims behind this atrocity while making it clear to all other Muslims that you do not blame them. That would demonstrate clearly to ISIS that it's strategy has failed.
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Jeff did a great job explaining this, and I agree with him.

But...I think the reason why so many people appear to be blaming all Muslims sometimes boils down to an unintentional lazy generalization...because most people understand that not all Muslims are terrorists. I also think that the crazy high number of Islamic extremists and terrorists lends itself to the perhaps unintentional sweeping generalizations...particularly since they are spread out around the world. Pretend we are in the throes of WWII and someone typed "we need to do something about those damn Germans!" Would you let it slide, or would you point out that not all Germans are bad--heck, many Germans are Jewish--it's the Nazis, not all Germans." While that would be a perfectly legitimate clarification, I'd interpret the original comment as it was likely intended (by Germans, he meant the bad ones--the ones destroying the nation's greatness and giving all of them a bad name).

Another problem: Islamic extremists have built their ideology on religion (albeit by distorting the religion and using it to manipulate people). I read an article the other day about an Imam in Indonesia calling for jihad to burn down all Christian churches. Now while most people understand that the Imam doesn't speak for all Muslims, I can try to put myself in the shoes of a Christian living in Indonesia and imagine that they might feel under attack by Muslims...I don't think that's a huge leap...even if it's not 100% accurate.

Lastly, some people are just assholes. Some people are racist, and they truly believe the hateful things they say about certain groups. There's no point arguing with them because it's really impossible to flip a person like that. That's why--contrary to all the FB posts of MLK's quote about how only love can defeat hatred--I don't believe we can "love" our way to a solution with ISIS. I wish we could, but I don't believe we can. And I don't have a solution. I'm not sure there is one (despite crazy Ben Carson's claims about his secret info on China's involvement and his magic solution).
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You actually missed an even better example than Germans during World War II. Because people took the attitude you describe toward Japanese, we rounded them up and forced them into camps. While the attitude you describe is understandable, that does not make it right. I would hope that reasonable people would not want to repeat the mistakes of the past and would work to avoid them. A very easy step in that direction is by being diligent in distinguishing between extremists and ordinary people.

I agree with your second paragraph. We can't do much about an Imam in Indonesia. But, I've removed a number of posts from DCUM calling for mosques to be burnt. I do have the power to remove such posts -- and I have -- and all of us have the power to resist our country becoming the mirror image of the situation you describe in Indonesia.

The struggle against ISIS is ultimately a struggle for resources. It is doubtful we can love our way out of it. The division of resources is a zero-sum game. There will always be a loser and nobody loses willingly.
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