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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: semi2000 who wrote (51904)	9/12/2001 12:05:41 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

> I am happy for you that you are safe. Mostly I have not much against your theory, however ask these questions to your islamic friends Let me first say that I am moved by the many good people that I have met during this crisis. Americans are some of the best people in the world. They are free spirited and good natured. Given a choice, they'd always prefer to do the right thing. Sadly they are highly ignorant of what America does outside of its boarders. You talk about my Islamic friends...I find that rather ironic since I am as anti-Islamic as it gets. The difference is that I believe in the nobility of human spirit and I choose to respect others' rights. Therefore I do not allow my political and social views to tar my actions against other human beings. BTW, what made you think that my friends were "Islamic"? Just because she comes from Morocco, a Muslim country, does not make her any more of a religious zealot than an Italian Catholic or an American Jew. Now let's look at your questions: > 1) were they disgusted by these attacks In the case of my friend, as her letter shows, she was more distressed than many. I don't think there is a question that she did not support it. It is interesting that while she is one of the most educated and most kindhearted people I know, and while she spends hours every week in community service (teaching), once her neighbors found out of her origin, the help she was offering was refused. Only a few minutes earlier they were too happy to have her support. > 2) who do they support US or palestine Do you not see something wrong with this question? It implies that we are in direct conflict with the Palestinians as a people (which I believe by the way and so do the Palestinians which is why we have the problem we do). Yet the US interests are not served by the strong one sided policy of supporting Israel at all costs and making the other side eat dirt. As a personal opinion, I never met a Palestinian that I liked and wanted as my personal friend. As a human being and a code of conduct, I think they have every right to prosper as a people than anyone else. Israel does not have the birth right to unequivocal US support. What did they ever do for the US? What do they have to offer for our future that is worth antagonizing so many others? And don't think that I am anti-Jew. I believe they too have as much right as anyone else, just no more so. > 3) are they fanatic? you need to observer their stance, life activities .. I stay away from all fanatics and I have great disdain for inflexible thinking. Fanaticism, regardless of its outside shape (religious, political, ideological, or "patriotic") destroys what is best in human nature. This especially applies to Islamic fanatics as I do not like much about that religion. > 4) what is the chance these people and their children who growup and take critical jobs in us... The society is made up of its components. We all vote for what we believe in. So long as the democratic process is respected, I see nothing wrong with others exercising their right to run the country as they see fit. The support for that right despite the personally undesirable outcome is what keeps the democratic countries in peace and prosperity. The latest census data suggests that within a generation, "whites" will be a minority in this country. This is regardless of the immigration policy. What is more, as a percentage, the "non-whites" especially Asians, put a greater emphasis on education and are more likely to have college educated children. It seems inevitable that their influence in the country will increase. Should we start a tradition of intolerance towards the minorities or fail to respect their democratic rights, our children may not live as fortunately as we have. > 5) Peace in western world is gone for ever but it could rot from iside out if immegration policies are lax towards fanatic people (above... And what should we do with the fanatics inside the country who bomb the Federal buildings? What about the church burnings? There is enough racial divide and hatred in this country to go around that we do not need a special policy for a special group of people. What we need is to instill a spirit of compassion and respect for the law and the democratic process. The underlying issues of discontent need to be addressed. The implosion that you are talking about is more likely to come from born Americans than from new immigrants...please recall the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, and the Columbine massacre. Immigrants are no more likely to commit atrocities than local Americans. > Action and reaction are just Newton's explanations, ... Yes, and I think that we need to examine if this action was unprovoked, or a was it a reaction to our own policies. These are criminal acts that are brought about out of desperation. We punish the criminals. But in the best societies, we also provide a way that people are not driven to crime out of desperation. best regards, Sun Tzu