So... start taking that advice Bill.
It's good advice for a bridge-builder. I'm not sure I want that role. It does require a different perspective and different rhetoric.
All I hear from you lately is "This person is racist and intolerant, that person is racist and intolerant" but it rarely if ever addresses both sides/reasons for that hate and intolerance, or the "proof of the stereotype" that brings it about.
I'm pretty sure that I've been very careful to cite my sources, instead of posting random accusations or repeating what I've heard or seen or read somewhere. I have addressed (probably ad naseum) the accusations and objections to the Mosque on a point-by-point basis. I've gone out and done the research, and reported what I've found. I'm not sure what more I could do.
Don't take this the wrong way, I'm gonna do armchair psychology here... you talked about how racist your dad was, and how hard you try not to be like that... I can't help but think a lot of this outrage you keep showing without addressing the underlying causes is just your way of saying "See! I'm not like my Father!"
I am quite a bit like my father. He was a strong-willed individual, stubborn, set in his ways, and a fiercely independent thinker. We disagreed about our beliefs, but we were alike in more ways than we were different. We were both prepared to take an ***-whipping for our beliefs - or to deal one out - if need be.
Why do you suppose people are intolerant of Muslims in America? It goes beyond simple Ignorance...
I think that ignorance covers a lot of ground, actually.
We know that our nation has a history of discrimination against recent immigrants (or new religions), especially if they look different or act different or speak a different language or worship a different god than most of us do. This is simple history, it's fact; it may be inescapable.
We know that Chinese were discriminated against, and Catholics, and Mormons, and so on. Have you read about how the Mormons ended up in Utah? It's an interesting story about bigotry and hatred based on ignorance.
We also know that none of the bigotry and racism we've shown has ever resulted in the realization of the fears we had. Not one single case. We haven't been overwhelmed by Chinese, Catholic politicians do not take their marching orders from Rome, the Mormons haven't caused us all to abandon the traditional concept of marriage, and so on.
I can also say that ignorance is the major cause of the bigotry that Muslims who hate the West have for us. They are ignorant in some cases in an even more profound way than we are; deprived of education, no access to free and open media, they are pawns to be preached to by extremists.
In both cases, though, I feel that ignorance is the tool of those who would use it to breed fear and hatred and manipulate it for their own benefit. For power, for money, for fame, for political success. It sickens me. It sickens me just as much that the average everyday Muslim in some nations is exploited the same way; but they don't post here, so you may not hear me say it as much.
