I’m not sure I should speak for my wife, but I’ll say that I don’t think she believes every Muslim is an extremist. I say this because she was dating someone Muslim years ago and we have friends that are Muslims and openly discuss topics with them. She would likely say that Islam breeds more extremism at a macro level- but I cannot even say if that is how she would word her feelings.
I think it will take a lot longer than 30 years in Europe. In the USA I think in 30 years we will see a difference as Arab Muslims move up the social ladder and there is greater understanding… in Europe it is REALLY bad and there is less tolerance for differences than in the USA.
This is why I say that when people reduce motivations to of humans to just their religion you get reductive analysis that assumes Muslims around the globe are one people in solidarity with the same socioeconomic interests. Resources, land, political scapegoating etc are all more important factors in motivations here than religion. A Muslim in Saudi Arabia has different material interests and is competing for different things than a British Pakistani.
Yeah it should be quite obvious that Israel is responding the way they are if they want to Godzilla stomp their enemies .. who’s going to stop them ? @AroundTheWorld
The Israel/Palestine conflict has been a subject of international debate in the UN since 1947. Hundreds of thousands of refugees were created as a result of the 1948 and 1967 wars. They and their descendants who weren't chased into other countries continue to live under military occupation, with severe limitations on movement, economic freedom, etc. I think the duration and scale of conflict helps explain the attention it has received. Scrutiny is warranted, sure.
Kudos to Israel for showing restraint. They should invoke the name of king David and turn each and everyone of these sadistic animals into fertilizers. The most disturbing and disgusting thing is we still have posters in this forum supporting this abomination.
Every religion can breed extremism. There were Buddhist extremist who did a nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways. Islam certainly has problems and one of the issues is that many Islamic regions also happen to be at places with long standing conflicts regarding post colonial and tribal conflicts. As many have noted Muslims have killed far more other Muslims in recent years in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and other places than they have killed non Muslims. At the same time there are many Muslims who are not extremists and are fine getting along. My own experience of being around Muslims in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries is that the majority of Muslims have little interest in even converting non Muslims. Most of my experiences with Muslims is exemplary of when I was in Turkey and was invited to hang out with a group of locals, one who was working as a security guard at Ephesus said “hey I’m a Muslim but I’m drinking beer.” Hamas and ISIS are terrorist groups who commit attractions. Hamas is paying a terrible price for what they did. ISIS paid a terrible price for what they did. Almost all of the victims of ISIS were Muslims and almost all of those who fought and defeated ISIS were Muslims. This view that Muslims are out for a war of civilizations between them and the non believers is far less true than there is an ongoing conflict within Islam.
They are "paying a terrible price"? Are we supposed to feel sorry for them now? No, it is not "far less true". It is absolutely true.
Do you deny that Muslims have killed far more muslims than non Muslims in recent years? Who do you think ISIS was occupying and who do you think did most of the fighting against ISIS? Who do you think the Houthi are fighting against?
Muslims kill scores of other Muslims, but that doesn't mean Islam is not also an aggressive, expansionist, supremacist ideology. Your post - and you have a history of doing this - is trying to use the fact that Muslims kill other Muslims as some kind of indication that Islam is not out for a war of civilizations against "non-believers". It is.
Yes I have a history of using facts to support my arguments rather than relying upon alarmist tweets or perceived grievances or ingrained bias.
