I have. Some of the most vile, racist human beings I've ever had the displeasure of coming in contact with. It's no wonder they immediately begin abusing this country when allowed to come here.

Don't believe me? Ask a Sunni or a Turk.

"The mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open."

Carole,
What's your basis for saying, "Attacks and ethnic hatred against Middle Easterners is at an all time high"?

And, while I know that journalists and officials are prone to exaggeration, three incidents of arrests/convictions is different from a string of incidents/crimes for which there have not been any arrests, don't you think?

No comment on the overgeneralization of "open-minded" "captainkona"?

Why should we fear Muslims? What have they ever done to us?
hmmm... Oh well I guess that was just an isolated incident.

You have a better chance of getting plowed down by a drunk driver coming home from a bar than being killed in a gang attack.

We see a whole lot of histrionics and exaggerations in the media. Gangs are real, and they are a threat, if in your immediate neighborhood, OR you are an opposing member.

But, we forget about the garden variety risks we are exposed to everyday. More people are killed in Knoxville by vehicles than by people.

We shouldn't fear Muslims. For God's sake, let's not become a nation that lumps all people together whenever fear strikes. GWB would have us all hate everyone, except maybe him and Dick Cheney. That way, these insane paranoid military adventures that give them their jollies can go on and on. Just because some Baptists hand their kids rattlesnakes to test their faith, we don't assume all Baptists are heartless and crazy.

Most Muslims are just like you or me, and their religion is not as the propaganda machine has portrayed it--violent and ugly. It's a very conservative religion, too conservative and restrictive for my taste, but ordinary Muslims believe in many of the the same things Christians do. When examined all religions are pretty much the same. The root of all of them lies in God and godliness. It's the branches that get kind of erratic.

Don't forget that there have been many crazy Christian sects too, some have even ended in near-slavery and murder. The screwy Morman sect for instance that marries off young girls to old men or the Jim Jones poison Kool-Aid crowd that was coaxed into killing their children because they feared the authorities would stop them from practicing religion the way they wanted.

Religion seems to have this dual nature. When used for good it is a beautiful thing that creates peace and harmony and caring. When it runs amok it becomes something evil. Churches leaders have to be very careful not to get drunk on power. It can lead to egomania. It can lead innocent people to denounce others. It can lead to distorted thinking.

The word demonize is a religious term. The Bush administration has helped demonize members of Islam. Many people will rankle at this, but being a Muslim is no different really than being a Christian.

There are good and bad in both.

Ever met a "___________"?

I have. Some of the most vile, racist human beings I've ever had the displeasure of coming in contact with. It's no wonder they immediately begin abusing this country when allowed to come here.

Possible answers:

white person,catholic,jew,baptist,black person, yellow person,indian,sikh,american......

Sorry guys, my PC regulator must have gone haywire there for a minute.

How much of the violence perpetrated throughout Africa is being done by people claiming to be Christians and even including the word Christian in the name of their paramilitary organizations?

I try not to be the too stereotypical modern atheist, but I really am sick of so much of the world's hurt happening because of people who want to force us all to obey their particular dogmas.