It shouldn't happen to a Muslim

[Tiger]

after the collapse of communism in russia the west lost its bogeyman of which to keep us afraid; and after 9-11 it's no surprise to see certain sections of the media jumping on the anti-muslim bandwagon as fear sells. similar to the way some sections now like to like the rise of stabbings to mainly hooded young black men. scary how easily supposedly mainstream opinion can be swayed by a constant drip-drip effect; however unfortunately we live in a culture were the crowd are like sheep and don't think for themselves but merely react when their buttons are pushed

[Sean]

It is a growing concern. It scares me that it's one of the less explored aspects of this Presidential race, too. Everyone tiptoes around the issue of race where Obama's African-American heritage is concerned, and points out how wrong it is that some people won't vote for him because he's black, but the claim that he's a Muslim gets totally different treatment - it's almost accepted as normal that the idea of him being Muslim is a bad thing, and that he must disassociate himself with the idea lest he be viewed as dangerous and un-American. I know it puts him in a tight spot while the campaign is in progress, but I would love to hear him speak out on it.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by Tiger

after the collapse of communism in russia the west lost its bogeyman of which to keep us afraid; and after 9-11 it's no surprise to see certain sections of the media jumping on the anti-muslim bandwagon as fear sells. similar to the way some sections now like to like the rise of stabbings to mainly hooded young black men. scary how easily supposedly mainstream opinion can be swayed by a constant drip-drip effect

If the goal of 9/11 was to kickstart an era of turning non-Muslim against Muslim (and vice versa), then it worked - supremely well. It is scary to witness how easy it is to turn one group against another, especially a minority out-group, simply through inflammatory reporting. I can't help wondering who might be the boogeymen after the Muslims. At this rate, it might be Russia again!

As for the stabbings - national hysteria or what?! And how cynical of politicians like Cameron to make capital of it by calling this "an epidemic". Absolute rubbish. Some guy I was talking to originally from LA found the whole British over-reaction to this "crimewave" hilarious.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by Sean

Everyone tiptoes around the issue of race where Obama's African-American heritage is concerned, and points out how wrong it is that some people won't vote for him because he's black, but the claim that he's a Muslim gets totally different treatment.

Oh yeah, completely. And you know I have absolutely no problem with people criticizing beliefs and practices and behaviour - religion should be open to challenge in a way that innate characteristics like ethnicity aren't. That's fine. The problem in this instance is the quite obvious underlying assumption that Muslim = bad, yet Christian = good. So obvious that it doesn't even need to be spelled out. It's this unfair tarring of god knows how many billion people (EDIT: 1.2billion, or 22% of the world's population) - it beggars belief. Fair enough, think someone's on philosophically dodgy ground for believing in any religion, or criticize them based on specific things, but to start whispering about where his sympathies lie, whether he can possibly be patriiotic, and whether he secretly has connections with terrorism, all from the Muslim "slur"...... sheesh. (And incredibly, plenty of people probably don't even get to thinking that 'deeply' and specifically about it - it's just a "bad feeling" they get about him... )

[myrrh]

I pretty much agree with you, Deckard. (though I haven't watched those links yet)

I remember years ago, before 9/11 finding out that U.S. Presidents are on record saying that after Communism, the #1 threat is Islam. Dan Rather talked about this live way before 9/11. If I can find the quotes again I will, but such things seemed to have disappeared off the internet. (that is another thread)

I happen to be under the opinion that these seeds had been planted about 20 years ago...