Case in Point...

[Taraz]

[ QUOTE ]

You hit on a great point, actually, and its something I'm intellectually aware of but constantly forget because I give everyone too much credit. Let me try and give an example. If I made a statement like "God I hate all these stupid SMP posters who think they know everything and dont even listen to what I have to say" would you take offense? Why? I'm clearly not talking about you, I'm only talking about "that kind" of SMP poster. But most people WOULD take offense because...well I dont know why. When I rant on and on about the Christians that bother me, if you arent that kind of Christian why must you take offense? You arent all on the same team. You are all individuals. When people make fun of Minnesotans, I certainly dont take offense, unless they are talking about something that relates to me.

So, when we mock the actions and beliefs of CERTAIN Muslims, there is no reason whatsoever for the rest of the Muslims, the "good" Muslims that you are talking about here, to get offended at all. In fact the opposite should be true, they should be even more embarrassed by the "bad" Muslims and join in.

But that isnt what happens and I should know better.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, that's basically what I'm getting at. Because of your position as an outsider and because of a lot of past history, bad relations, mistrust, etc, even if you specify that you are talking about "bad Muslims" many people on both sides will simply hear "Muslims". I mean, honestly how many people in the U.S. know the difference between the different Middle Eastern nations and the different forms of Islam? It's such a sensitive topic I just think it's worth it to be a little more careful.