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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David in Ontario who wrote (22403)	3/26/2003 8:47:16 PM
From: Carolyn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27702

You can't argue with that.

To: David in Ontario who wrote (22403)	3/27/2003 6:20:40 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27702

it is very productive to know what is in the head of those that wish to do the West harm Are you sure that all Muslims wish to do the West harm? I would formulate the sentence above a bit differently: Fringe terrorist groups of Muslim extremists wish to do the US harm. If the aggression was from all Muslims towards all non-Muslim countries, then your sentence would be correct. Instead, it is a handful of extremists plotting to harm only Americans and the US - not Europe, not Canada, not Japan... Hence, I urge you to consider that the root of the aggression is not a few sentences in the Quran telling the faithful to kill their enemies at the time. Have you taken a look at the polls in Muslim countries regarding sentiment towards the US in the past year or so? Their public, for the most part, does not wish well on America (not the West as a whole), because of its foreign policy regarding the Middle East. news.bbc.co.uk The best scores for the United States were in Kuwait, liberated by U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf War, where 48 per cent said they had an unfavourable impression. Forty-one per cent viewed America favourably - compared to only 12 per cent in Saudi Arabia. Zogby said France and Canada were among countries getting the highest ratings, with France receiving a no less than 50 per cent favourable rating from all respondents. halifaxherald.com So, you see, what negative sentiment there is from Muslims is not based on what they read in the Quran, AND it is not towards the West as a whole. These are also interesting and point in the same direction: businessweek.com cfdev.georgetown.edu That the Muslims take all that is written in the Koran literally - and use it to justify the murder of innocents in the name of Allah - is fact Yes, Muslims do tend to take Quran literally (they believe that it is the word of God, written by him, and sent down in pages and unchanged thereafter). However, the fact that there was no widespread hostility on all non-Muslims should tell you that your position that "Muslims want to harm non-Muslims because Quran tells them to" is not correct. The Imam at the local mosque preaches hatred toward the West I don't know how many mosques you have been to (if any) but I have heard quite a few sermons and those in which any hatred is voiced are rare and far in between. There are hundreds of sermons in mosques in every major city every day. Several of these being delivered by twisted souls is in no way indicative of the collective thinking of the followers of one of most widespread religions of this planet. By the way, I have also been to synagogues quite a few times and in some occasions, heard ear-blistering remarks against non-Jews in the rabbi's speech. Again, I am sure this is a rare incident, and not indicative of the usual way in which sermons in synagogues are conducted. All this is happening today - not in the distant past Yes. Islam is going through the period of dark ages that Christianity went through, with its Inquisitions, systematic torture, "witch hunts" (read: burning lonely peasants with moles on their faces and/or who liked cats), and the like. In comes down to a clash of cultures Unfortunately, it is beginning to look like it, and this is an eventuality we must try very hard to avoid, because then, it will not just be extremist terrorist groups we will be fighting. ...one modern, and one stuck in the Middle Ages They will come out of it. However, they have to come out of it by themselves, just like the Renaissance of Christianity came from within. Such things as enlightenment cannot be imposed by brute force. If anything, that makes it worse, forcing the people you are trying to change to get more introverted, hold on more to their beliefs, and hate you as "the oppressor".