umm just because you went to a muslim country and didnt see any of the things you described doesnt mean its not happening else where. Try visiting Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, etc and then try reporting back. The truth and fact is it just isnt safe to visit those countries. Are all the citizens in those countries terrorists and out to get you? Nope definitely not most just want to make a living and have a family but the fact is it isnt safe. But your short small visit is pretty insignificant to make a determination on whats really going on. Do a lot of Americans have a blinded/stereotype view of the rest of the world? Yes, because a lot of us have never been off the North American continent. Oh and the only Muslim area I have been to is Abu Dhabi and yes I agree I had quite a good time and fortunately saw no terrorists
I think the point is that his small short visit, is still better than many of the people who claim there are no Muslim moderates, that Islam is naturally oppressive, and unpeaceful, based on conservative internet sites and slanted journalism. He never claimed the oppressive things and extremism don't happen other places, just that because they happen in some places, doesn't mean Islam is is like that as a whole. Also you mentioned Iran. Much of Iran is like that, but if you've ever been to the ski slopes there you will see something far different than women all in black and extremists looking to oppress people.
I spent some time in America and didn't see any drug use, crazy Christians, Ku Klux Klan members, crazed postal workers, Koran (Quran) burning, tea partiers, kids shooting up schools, NRA militia men, people berating/hating on Muslims or Colts beating Texans.
Indonesia is well known as being fairly tolerant on religion. Only today I was reading in the newspaper about them having problems with a few radical muslims attacking Christians, which has been very rare until recently. Without being an expert I would say due to it being made up of islands which have been a stopping point for traders over history and now for tourists they have learned to accept other races and religions. However if you only went to Bali its probably the worst example to use, half the island is probably Australians and other tourists and from when I was there a lot of the locals were Christians. Like others have said, Indonesia is a lot lot different than the middle east.
Still waiting to hear exactly where he was in Indonesia and why this wasn't mentioned in the OP. For those of you not familiar with the country, this is very important. While it is wrong to stereotype all Muslims, it is also very misleading to characterize a visit to some yet-to-be-determined place in Indonesia as representative of anything.
oh my god - examples of intolerance in other countries! why, we never show intolerance to others in america!
New Yorker, you obviously did not understand the point of this intelligent post. Flew right over your head, as usual.
If you take a course on Islam and politics you will find that there are all sorts of variables that go into whether Islamic state=totalitarian state. The religion of Islam doesn't necessitate that a state be a brutal dictatorship where murders and disappearances happen regularly, but many brutal states have used Islam to solidify their power and control their populace. Guess what people, that is not unique to Islam.
Agree with the post. Just wanted to point out the reason Pakistan is not safe is because of reasons other than religion. Pakistan is not run by an Islamic government forcing rules on anyone. Their government is just flat out corrupt unrelated to religion(I'm not speaking of the mountains up north, only the cities).
yes, and they should launch more terror attacks against westerners until we accept that they're *just like us*.
Congrats, you have performed the following: Generalizations, or assumptions, that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image (often wrong) about what people in that group are like. It's called a stereotype. Let me give you another one. Tea Baggers are morons that believe liberals are the bogey man out to get them and they all want to get rid of the FDA, EPA, and all federal agencies except for the military and the president. So if your stereotype is true, so is the other one right?
Indonesia is somewhere between 85-90% muslim. I traveled there like two months after the 9/11 muslim terrorist attacks to hike up the Krakatau volcano, I did almost die boating back across the Sunda Strait to Carita, but thats another thread. Never had a problem the people were very kind, of course we hired a guide to drive us around so we did not stray into the wrong parts of town. Toured the tea planations up in the mountains on the way to Bandung, its amazingly cool at the higher elevations. We even made a donation "cough" and got to tour the Istiqlal Mosque which is the largest one in Southeast Asia. I did have to wear a wrap to cover up my legs since I was wearing shorts. Having said all that the hotel we stayed at in Jakarta had to bomb proof the lower three floors due to terrorist attacks and they are always under constant watch for the radicals....lol Oddly enough they all loved Bill Clinton, they didn't know much else about America but they knew ole' slick willie since he visited the country.
You draw a lot of conclusions about those places, and then admit you've never visited them. Maybe YOU should try visiting those places first, before makin' **** up? The biggest problem with America in my opinion is the vast majority of people are (1)uneducated and (2)never travel anywhere outside of their own comfort zone.
