islamicphobia

[Stan]

Is it real? Is it deserved.. do you know any Muslims? Do you want to?

[Amelia]

I don't know if I know any muslims. I've never asked.

[Liz]

Is it real? Is it deserved.. do you know any Muslims? Do you want to?

I am not afraid of Islam, as Islamicphobia implies--the fear of Islam.

Do *I* know any Muslims? Yes, there is a family that lives a few doors down from us, in this trailer park; they have four kids, two boys and two girls. Their boys are the meanest kids in the park. They throw rocks at the other kids, and throw rocks at all the dogs that are inside fences. They went into our neighbors yard with out the neighbors permission and swam in their pool. And they have actually peed on another neighbors porch.

We have tried time and again to be friendly. Finally I had to tell my kids to stop playing with them, because then my kids could be caught up in the same mischief, and I don't condone that type of behaviour.

These boys then asked my son if *we* didn't like them because they were Muslim.

I personally think it is sad that my kids first encounter with Muslims are these kids. It goes to show you that their are good and bad in every religion. Unfortunately, all we have are our personal experiences to form opinions with, and when my kids are going to hear the words Muslim or Islam, their next thoughts will be about these two boys and that they throw rocks at our dogs.

The Next Question was Do I want to? Yes, I would like to get to know a lot of people of different backgrounds. It is quite interesting.

As long as they don't pee on my porch or throw rocks at my dogs. :smilewink:

[carolaa]

I totally agree that there's good and bad people in every religion. The followers of Islam are as varied as the followers of Christianity, so you can't really judge Islam by one or two Muslims.

The Muslims I know and have met are good people, primarily interested in living their lives just as we all are, and not much concerned with how others live theirs.

[carolaa]

Yes, I do believe Islamicphobia (if that's a word) is real. People are afraid of anything that is different from what they're used to. As a whole, no, I don't think it is deserved, but there are definitely some zealots that we should be afraid of. Any group of people is going to have some bad apples. Yes, I know several Muslims - U.S. citizens (born here and naturalized) as well as those from other countries such as Pakistan and India.

[John317]

My personal experience in Southern Ca. and Colorado is that American citizens for the most part go out of their way to show they are not afraid of Muslims. For myself, my family and I have been good, close friends with a Muslim family-- husband, wife and 3 boys from Afghanistan-- since 1990 when we moved to Loma Linda.

Adventist doctors have helped their oldest son through La Sierra University and are now paying for his training as a physician's assistant at Loma Linda University Medical Center. The mother has had free cancer treatment for about 4 years now.

Because of a mistake in judgment, the father was thrown in jail for over a year following 9/11, and many of his friends, including myself, signed petitions to get him freed.

There's a large Mosque near here where Muslims worship and these have been invited to dialogue with Adventists during Sabbath School at the University Church. They are quite radical and even militant but I have not noticed any fear of them among the members when they come and present their views.

[Neil D]

Is it real? Is it deserved.. do you know any Muslims? Do you want to?

What are you refering to ? People from countries that have Muslims? Or Muslims in general?

The US generates thier own Muslims. We have a muslim culture/communities....Having said that, I can also say that my boss is "Pursian" ...or from Iran...He is a Christian, in many ways...

[John317]

Check out this info-- it can be surprising:

The 2007 Pew survey of Muslim Americans finds two-thirds of the Muslim Americans are foreign-born. Among the foreign-born, most have immigrated since 1990. Of the roughly one-third of Muslim Americans that are native-born, the majority are converts and African American. In 2005, according to the New York Times, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents — nearly 96,000 — than in any year in the previous two decades

In addition to immigration, the state, federal and local prisons of the United States may be a contributor to the growth of Islam in the country. J. Michael Waller claims that Muslim inmates comprise 17-20% of the prison population, or roughly 350,000 inmates in 2003. He also claims that 80% of the prisoners who "find faith" while in prison convert to Islam. These converted inmates are mostly African American, with a small but growing Hispanic minority. Waller also asserts that many converts are radicalized by outside Islamist groups linked to terrorism, but other experts suggest that when radicalization does occur it has little to no connection with these outside interests.

[Nan]

I have worked with Muslim doctors on and off for over 30 years, and have many Muslim patients - and no Islamicphobia of these people.

The problem group I see in my city is the young men who seem not to belong wholly to their Lebanese origins nor to be totally comfortable in the Australian situation, and seem to be the culprits when a suspect "of Mediterranean appearance" is linked to a crime.

[John317]

According to the wikipedia, there are just over 341,000 Muslims in Australia. We don't have an accurate count because the US does not count people according to their religion, but it is estimated to be between 2 and 6 millions.

The young Muslims who grow up here are also caught between two worlds, and it can be hard on them. Their parents are usually strict, traditional Muslims, but the children feel the pull towards the American way of life, which recognizes and celebrates freedom of expression and individuality.

It seems to the parents often that our "freedom" leads to evil and immorality, so I cannot blame the parents for trying to keep their Muslim children protected from that part of our way of life. They see abuses of sex, alcohol, and drugs, besides the bad language and disrespect toward older people. Unfortunately they don't see much of the love of Christ. When they watch American TV, they usually only hear of our religion when it is being ridiculed and put down. This would never happen in their native countries, and they cannot understand how we can stand to allow it to happen here if we love our religion.

[rush4hire]

I've known any of these guys personally. I grew up in Kansas.

I did see a very funny movie that I would very much recomend about this topic: Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

Just watch it. Trust me. It's hillarious and it's so true.

[olger]

I heard he is eating baked whitefish with Elvis in Singapore.