[alicebot-aiethics] harassment

[Christopher Fahey [askROM]]

Bill Easley wrote:

> Do we go after people and bash them because 
> of thier ethnicity or religion-no. Do we realize Islam is a 
> dangerous religion and to practice it devoutly leads it's 
> followers to isolationism, hatered and demands of it's 
> follwers to practice acts that could lead to terrorism-yes. 

Please, Bill. Your lip-service to the idea of 'tolerance' is undermined
by your ugly, intolerant, prejudiced, and uninformed characterizations
of Islam. Judging all of Islam based on what you know about Islamic
fundamentalism is like judging all of the diverse world of Christianity
based on Christian fundamentalism. It's blatantly prejudiced and
somewhat disgusting. 

Think about what 'fundamentalism' is from a Christian perspective, and
then ask yourself if Islamic fundamentalists really should be held up as
a standard of what all of Islam is. Christian fundamentalists come in
many varieties, but almost all of them have at least some beliefs that
are about as far out of the mainstream (or even as 'sick') as what you
ascribe to Islamic fundamentalists. Some think that women should always
cover their heads, should be deprived of education, and are obliged to
bear their husbands dozens of children. Some believe in polygamy. Some
think that all non-Christians must be punished/converted and that we are
in a global religious war against the infidels (and, in fact, you seem
to come close to this belief). Some think that the earth is only 5,000
years old and that most scientists are demons. Here in the US, many
advocate the destruction of the US government, as we so sadly found out
in Oklahoma City. Many Christian-based cults take the form of armed
militias. Anti-Semitism permeates Christian fundamentalism just like it
permeates Islamic fundamentalism. 

This is not to say that the analogy is totally appropriate: Why do
Islamic fundamentalists seem to have more power and influence in the
Islamic world than Christian fundamentalists have in the US (although
this is arguable)?

One thing that differentiates the two is that Moslems around the world
live, for the most part, in impoverished and oppressive circumstances -
and their oppressors are usually supported by western governments like
the US. Osama bin Laden has made no secret of his hatred for Saddam
Hussein and of King Fahd - these oppressive regimes, to him, are
"western creations" and in fact these are his real targets. The Islamic
fundamentalist movement is, in many ways, a movement to restore faith,
dignity, and honor to the corrupt governments of the Moslem world.
Sounds a lot like GW Bush's campaign speeches (I'm not saying Bush is
like a terrorist at all, I'm just saying that the desire to bring
justice to your government is pretty normal). In most respects they are
acting based on politics, not religion. 

Christian fundamentalists, on the other hand, tend to live in free
countries with some degree of economic prosperity. Their goals are also
to restore dignity and honor to our societies and governments. But
(fortunately for us) western governments already are pretty free of
corruption and oppression (especially in comparison to the governments
of the Middle East). So they rarely resort to such acts of terror as we
see coming from the Middle East.

One group attacks the World Trade Center because they are fighting (they
believe) to end the oppression of millions of their people. Another
group kills doctors on their way to clinics to end (they believe)
abortion. People with strong beleifs often turn to violence regardless
of their faith. 

We live in a world where Islam, a sleeping giant of potential power (and
fully 1/4 of the world's population), lives in a kind of second-class
world citizenship, and they desperately want to end that situation. Some
of them are willing to turn to violence - and your us-versus-them
attitude does nothing to help end that violence. The fact that the
murderers in question today are Moslem is no excuse for your
embarrassingly hateful anti-Islamic rhetoric. I only hope your
ill-considered opinions are in the minority - if not, and if Americans
really do think that 1/4 of the people in the world have an evil belief
system, then I guess we are in for a stupid war that could last a
hundred years. Intolerant statements like the ones you've made make me
ashamed to be an American and very much afraid for the future of love
and peace on Earth. 

-Cf

PS: Sorry for the off-topic post, but as long as anyone posts intolerant
statements like this, I am morally obliged to respond to show that we're
not all so insensitive and prejudiced.