Political correctness aside, it is logical to determine your targets before you take aim; if you "spray and pray" you're far more likely to cause massive amounts of collateral damage. To put it mildly, it's lazy to not give a shit about who is in the way and just kill everything in the general vicinity.
It is so easy to generalize because we don't want to put in the effort to study and learn about what we "hate;" instead let's just hate that entire demographic/hemisphere/country/religion/ethnicity/etc. We prefer to label things to make it easy to identify as the object of our hatred. Quite often we mislabel things because it's the faster or easier option "believes in God, believes in angels, doesn't agree with me.. Ungh, chuck it under 'religious zealot' category."
In this context, we look at two or three "muslim countries" (to quote a label) and assume that they represent the entire population of ~1.6B muslims around the world. What we neglect is that the problem is the people involved. It doesn't matter what religion they have; if they were Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, they'd be violent regardless.
The other problem that's just fueling the hatred is the lack of awareness and knowledge on Islam itself. We all naturally fear what we don't understand and we hate what we fear. There are a lot of inaccurate assumptions and misinformation about it particularly in the West, even worse the "sources" they often go to are not the ideal representatives of Islam, either because translate very poorly or worse, they're bigots themselves.
One of the issues is the incessant alienation of Islam and Muslims to non-Muslims. Whatever powers that be are adamant on keeping Muslims seem like distant, faceless creatures; an imminent threat that's looming over everything you believe in. This is coming from all sides, including ignorant Muslims who equally don't give a shit.
One thing I see a lot of is the use unfamiliar jargon to describe something in a language that already has the vocabulary. Practically everything in Islamic doctrine has a word in English, yet many people insist on transliterating Arabic words rather than translating and using the words we already have. This instantly alienates listeners and widens the gap between our common humanity.
I'm not big on conspiracy theories but in the case of the world view on Islam it's hard not to think there's something pushing an agenda with vicious propaganda. I refuse to believe that the average person does not understand nor empathize with other people. Fear is a big motivator and it is being triggered and taken advantage of. This applies to all sides, we all need to look past the images that are displayed for us.
Great post, X. I read it carefully several times. I have so much I want to say in my mind right now, but I can't seem to get it organized into words. So much thought and memory has been stimulated by this thread, and now by your post. Let me start throwing it out there, and hopefully a cohesive whole will form.
My father's partner was Persian--Iranian, to be specific. They had an office near where I sit right now. His family and ours became friends. I guess as recent transplants from other places and cultures, we sort of clicked fairly well together. His oldest daughter is about my age, and although we never dated, we liked each other quite a bit. Her name is Sima. Lovely girl, back in our youth anyway. I haven't seen her in years.
What popped that into my head were your comments about generalization and ignorance. You made me wonder--am I guilty of these? After some thought, I can say confidently that no, I am not. Just the opposite, in fact. I'm trying to narrow the focus, not broaden it. We should all be doing the same. I agree that we shouldn't spray and pray. But is that what we're doing? I don't think so.
A fugitive son takes refuge in the family home. SWAT surrounds the house. The family hunkers down in fear. The father's thoughts are a blur. "What do I do? Why did I let my son go this far astray?" He sees the terror in his daughter's eyes, the grief in his wife's. "I need to protect them! I need to save my family." Does he talk to his son? No, he's tried and failed, many times. And now his son is armed to the teeth, ready to kill whatever gets in his way. Does he turn him in? How? Getting shot won't save the family. It may get them killed instead, when his loud death ushers in the explosive chaos. So he suffers in silence, and hopes that when the shooting starts, everyone's aim will be true.
Can we avoid a similar tragic scenario on a global scale? I don't know. I hope so. You're right that it has nothing to do with Islam per se. But the fact is that a perverse use of Islam is what gives unity and power to these barbaric actors. Perhaps Sinn Fein might have tarnished Catholicism to the point that Jihadists have tarnished Islam in the eyes of so many. Luckily, they didn't have nearly the power, the brutality or the scale needed for that. They were choir boys by comparison.
When the shooting starts, many innocents will die. Isn't that happening already? I find it difficult to watch the news about ISIS and their many victims. It's heartbreaking, and it's unthinkable; yet there it is, outside the pages of a Frank Miller book, really happening. That has to fucking stop. Innocents may die, but it has to fucking stop. The longer we do nothing, the more innocents will die before it's all over. Shame on us for doing nothing for so long.
We need more like Ezra Aslan, and less like Ben Affleck. Bill Maher? I don't know. He pisses me off as often as he makes me laugh. He makes some good points at times, and twists the truth to suit his politics at others. But in a world where drawing a cartoon can bring a price on your head, I can't fault him for taking on the subject in such a public venue. It does take some big brass ones. I hope he strives for accuracy, and survives the attempt.
