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Boston Explosions caused by Muslims


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I have a Facbook "friend who is asolutely certain that a Muslim (or actually any person of Middle Eastern descent) carried out this attack. Her anti-immigrant, anti-gun control and other like rants leave me alternating between outrage and disbelief that I haven't deleted her yet. I tell my husband I keep her around as an early warning system. If she and her fellow wingnuts ever do decide to do more than talk and actually do plan a government coup, I wanna know!

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The Guardian has an interesting interactive map showing every act of terrorism committed in the US between 1970 and 2011. All 2,631 of them to be exact. When it's finished downloading you can click on a dot and get the date, name of group responsible, if known, and the target of the violence (in general terms, such as racially motivated, abortion, religious). I am reasonably sure that if you were to trace each one, you'd find very few incidents that were committed by Muslims and an awful lot committed by good[sic] white Christians.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog ... e-1970-map

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The Thinking Housewife may think that Muslims are brown people from "over there", easily identified and repatriated, but she is wrong.

The sad part is that that is the thinking of many people far less nutty than TTH. I've heard of people who've made veiled derogatory comments about Muslims, calling them "those people", and always assuming that any Muslim must be a recent immigrant. To them, Muslims are practically a race and almost always Arab.

Funny thing is, in the US, most Muslims come from Asia (India), not the middle east. I believe Time magazine stated there are actually more Arabs who are Christians than Muslims in the US (possibly due to the refugee status conferred on Arab Christians...?). The really interesting statistic by Gallup is that Muslims in the US are actually one of the most highly educated group and have the highest income of any religious group. I figure that's mostly due to the high concentration of Muslims that come from India who are more likely to be doctors and engineers.

And finally, "brown" people are as religiously and culturally diverse as any racial group. Since Muslim is a religion and not a race, people forget that good ol' Americans can convert without losing their citizenship! There goes THH's plan of "politely" asking Muslims to leave. You can't really ask your own citizens to leave, can you? How will you go be able to successfully deport someone who has no residency in any other country?It's no easier than asking Mormons, atheists, American Idol watchers or any other hated minorities leave (sorry, had to take that crack).

TTH is almost comical to read because her ideas have so many holes. I don't care much for her as she's a fringy fringe blogger. It's her more moderate followers that I met up every day that scares me. They believe women should go to work and girls should be educated, and then they pull out their bigot card with crass comments about Muslims when they think no one's looking.....

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I was waiting for someone to say out loud what's on all fundies' minds. It doesn't matter who is responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing.

I admit it was the first word of my internal monologue on the bombings:

‘Muslim?’

‘Maybe. Maybe not. Why would I care whether the bombers are Muslims? (What the fuck is the matter with me?) They’re killers – a category that transcends race.’

‘The fundies are going to start pelting news sites with their theories about the brown menace – and so will people who are otherwise average and moderate in their political beliefs. But most of the Muslims I've ever known were white.’

‘If Muslims did do this, then everyone else will have to speak out to defend the whole of Islam from being tarred, or else it could be revenge murders and all manner of other evil aimed at innocent people for crimes they would never have condoned.’

‘Why wasn’t my first thought that right-wing terrorists did this? They’re the more likely culprits – but white bombers like Timothy McVeigh usually act alone. Of course the guy who did this could have acted alone…how the hell would I know? I don’t know more than any other member of the public. No one knows anything for sure. (Why was my first thought about Muslims?)’

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The Guardian has an interesting interactive map showing every act of terrorism committed in the US between 1970 and 2011. All 2,631 of them to be exact. When it's finished downloading you can click on a dot and get the date, name of group responsible, if known, and the target of the violence (in general terms, such as racially motivated, abortion, religious). I am reasonably sure that if you were to trace each one, you'd find very few incidents that were committed by Muslims and an awful lot committed by good[sic] white Christians.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog ... e-1970-map

But that's from the Guardian! THey're all evul librul socialists! Of COURSE they'd invent something like that to protect the REAL TERRORISTS.

(In reality, I am totally posting that to facebook. Just in case I'm accidentally friends with someone who is thinking racist thoughts.)

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I first heard of the attacks on my way to the Mini dealership to get some work done on my car. The TV in the waiting room was turned to Faux News which would not have been my first choice at all. At any rate, a guy on Faux News mentioned that the anniversaries of Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing were coming up. The extreme right-wing always makes a big deal about those days and Ruby Ridge, too. I think it's more likely that those anniversaries figures into the act of terror and not the actions of a Muslim.

In fact, the Boston Marathon is held on Patriot's Day which commemorates the Battle of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution. That battle occurred on April 19, 1775. Waco and the OKC bombing also happened on April 19.

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James Holmes, Charles Manson, and plenty of murderers have been white as well.

Oh, and the cult leader responsible for the Waco siege was also white.

Exactly. Technically there's not even any reason to say this is terrorism yet. It could just be a mass murderer for thrill. There's been no statement, they have no idea who it is so have no idea of any organizations the bomber belonged to or not, etc.

Just because it's bombs doesn't make it terrorism. It very well might be, but so far, nothing known.

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Exactly. Technically there's not even any reason to say this is terrorism yet. It could just be a mass murderer for thrill. There's been no statement, they have no idea who it is so have no idea of any organizations the bomber belonged to or not, etc.

Just because it's bombs doesn't make it terrorism. It very well might be, but so far, nothing known.

While there is no universal definition of terrorism, I'd say this event was most certainly an act of terror. It seems pretty clear it was meant to instill fear into an entire community.

It took place on Patriot's Day - an important historical holiday in Boston - at the heart of one of the city's biggest events. It's a celebration not just of the accomplishments of the elite runners from across the planet who come to compete, but of the regular folks who train on weekends and after work in order to make the 26.2 mile run. Nearly everyone in the Boston area has a friend, relative, or neighbor who runs the marathon. The whole day is big, happy party in the city; the Red Sox game is timed every year so the crowd gets out in time to walk over and cheer the runners on. The bombings were timed to happen at exactly the point where the largest number of recreational runners would be crossing the finish line at a place where families and friends would be there supporting the runners.

Those bombs were meant to kill and injure innocent people, but this killer - or killers - could have easily murdered many more people by bombing a crowded train car. By attacking the city on that day at that event, the terrorists were clearly trying to destroy an important part of Boston's identity and change the course of it's history. It won't work, there will be more people there next year than ever before, but the time and place indicate to me it was more than just a thrill kill.

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Since Monday, I have worried about Muslims or Arabs possibly dealing with hate crimes. On Monday, "Muslims" trended on twitter for several hours and people were already saying "Muslims bombed the marathon". The big problem with many Americans is that they lump all Muslims into one category and act as if all of them are extremists who commit terror acts. I encountered attitudes like that on another message board I used to post on. I'm not surprised the Louswife hate Muslims. I also predict ZsuZsu will do some kind of conspiracy theorist posting about the bombings.

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My first thought was "April 15 in Boston? Oh, God, it's a Tea Party lunatic."

I could be wrong, but I think in this case, all signs point to white, homegrown, and Christian.

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Does she realise that many Muslims are American citizens, and many are even white women like her?

This point came to me cause I'm reading this as I leave a large mall in Parramatta. It's school holidays, so there are mums and kids everywhere, and while my kids were playing I noticed heaps of young white women with accents that identified them as growing up in Australia, wearing hijabs and in a couple of cases veils. By the looks of most of their children they probably married Australian Muslim men of middle eastern descent.

Now I don't know, but I would guess that America has a similar demographic of convert spouses and their children. The Thinking Housewife may think that Muslims are brown people from "over there", easily identified and repatriated, but she is wrong.

There are even white people who converted to Islam and you cannot tell the difference because we do not wear a label around. :roll:

Edit: Cannot type today..

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I have had a LOT of thoughts about this including a discussion with DH about what "terrorism" means.

But, seriously.... This is an inside job (inside = American) and I have my sights on Mormon Mommy Bloggers. A very, very long jog? Pressure Cookers? Nails and other artwork-hanging equipment? Planning relatively non-fatal injuries? Sounds like a set up to witness to the great unwashed and overeducated.

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Don't people ever think that maybe the people who move to their safe, nice country from the middle east & such are actually escaping something? Because they are the 'wrong' kind of Muslim or a Christian?

Lots of Sudanese refugees moved to Melbourne about 5-10 years ago. People freaked out at the time & thought they were dangerous evil africans, probably muslim. When the reason they were refugees was because they were CHRISTIANS!

_lilith Waleed Aly is married who a first fleet descendant. They live/lived near me. When she was on TV with him a bit in the mid 00s I saw her on the bus a few times & recognised her. Shes very fair, blue eyed & wears a hijab.

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Don't people ever think that maybe the people who move to their safe, nice country from the middle east & such are actually escaping something? Because they are the 'wrong' kind of Muslim or a Christian?

Lots of Sudanese refugees moved to Melbourne about 5-10 years ago. People freaked out at the time & thought they were dangerous evil africans, probably muslim. When the reason they were refugees was because they were CHRISTIANS!

_lilith Waleed Aly is married who a first fleet descendant. They live/lived near me. When she was on TV with him a bit in the mid 00s I saw her on the bus a few times & recognised her. Shes very fair, blue eyed & wears a hijab.

Newcastle, where I used to live also has a very large Sudanese Christian population. It's been great for a city that until then was overwhelmingly Anglo Australian. They have also filled up Christian churches that were emptying as their congregations died.

There is definitely a noticeable increase in women converting to Islam around here. Possibly men too, but as they don't wear a visible religious marker it's harder to say. We do have a very large Islamic community in central western Sydney, and despite the racist Daily Telegraph hype about scary middle eastern gangs with guns, I think the young mums with their kids I was sitting with today are a sign of integration and acceptance from both communities.

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Would it be possible to put quote marks round those last three words?

And yeah, as Burris indicated, there's an entire cultural group of white European Muslims.

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I'm a Norwegian, so this reminds me of the bombing and shooting from july 2011. Before anyone had a clue who was behind it, there were people who targeted muslims (or anyone with brown skin). Some people got thrown off busses and such. When it turned out he was a norwegian brought up in the best part of Oslo (our capitol), people had to rethink some of their thoughts and actions.

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My first thought was "April 15 in Boston? Oh, God, it's a Tea Party lunatic."

I could be wrong, but I think in this case, all signs point to white, homegrown, and Christian.

I thought the same thing. I can see some crazy teabagger doing this, imagining that it's the first shot fired in a new revolution. And that most people will jump to the conclusion that it was Muslim terrorists will only make it better.

And Boston is also seen by the tea-bagger crowd as the epitome of what's wrong with America today. It's one of those ultra-liberal, mostly-unchurched big cities that voted heavily for Obama; it's home to several top universities (because academics/intellectuals are part of the hated "elites"), and it's in a state that legalized marriage equality. I can easily see some right-winger who imagines himself a "real" patriot choosing this day and this event to make a statement. Add in the families of Sandy Hook victims as VIPs--and there are gun nuts who believe that event was staged to stir up anti-gun sentiments--and a homegrown terrorist makes sense to me.

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Does she realise that many Muslims are American citizens, and many are even white women like her?

This point came to me cause I'm reading this as I leave a large mall in Parramatta. It's school holidays, so there are mums and kids everywhere, and while my kids were playing I noticed heaps of young white women with accents that identified them as growing up in Australia, wearing hijabs and in a couple of cases veils. By the looks of most of their children they probably married Australian Muslim men of middle eastern descent.

Now I don't know, but I would guess that America has a similar demographic of convert spouses and their children. The Thinking Housewife may think that Muslims are brown people from "over there", easily identified and repatriated, but she is wrong.

One of my daughter's best friends has an Aussie mum with a non-religious upbringing and a Muslim dad from South Africa. They met at school. Mum is a convert. They don't wear hijabs, niqabs, burkhas or even head scarves. They don't celebrate Christmas or Easter and they don't eat pork. Other than that, no different to any other family at school.

There are a couple of hijab wearing mums at school too. They are lovely. We all swap cooking tips while we wait to pick up our kids. Last year one of them (Indonesian) was really excited because we taught her how to cook poached eggs. She'd eaten them at a hotel but had no idea how it was done. She couldn't wait to try them out for her husband. Definitely terrorist material there then.

If I could meet some of these bigoted half-wits who treat Muslins like lepers I'd cheerfully explain that the vast majority of Muslims probably have more in common with Jesus, ( in that they are caring, considerate, inclusive, forgiving people) than most fundie, bigoted, fear mongering twunts.

Ok rant over. Resuming normal activities.

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The sad part is that that is the thinking of many people far less nutty than TTH. I've heard of people who've made veiled derogatory comments about Muslims, calling them "those people", and always assuming that any Muslim must be a recent immigrant. To them, Muslims are practically a race and almost always Arab.

This reminds me of a Daily Fail headline a while ago, featuring "Five British children and one Muslim". Because Muslims can neither be born in Britain nor be of British descent :roll:

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This reminds me of a Daily Fail headline a while ago, featuring "Five British children and one Muslim". Because Muslims can neither be born in Britain nor be of British descent :roll:

Cat Stevens! :cussing:

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One of my best friends is moving to Boston for her new job a week from today. She is Indian.

I really, really hope the bomber is a white, right-wing, christian man. Preferably from the tea party. For the safety of brown people in this stupid fucking country.

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I'm going to Boston next month for vacation. I went last year, it's a wonderful place. An incident like this isn't going to stop me.

And it technically is terrorism. Domestic or foreign terrorism is another matter, but nobody knows, so why even bother speculating?

I saw 9-11 happen. I live near the city. I could see the twin towers from the area I lived in. Smoke was over the house for at least a week. It's something I'll never forget. But did people stop living their lives because of it? nope. That's why I'm still going to Boston.

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The sad part is that that is the thinking of many people far less nutty than TTH. I've heard of people who've made veiled derogatory comments about Muslims, calling them "those people", and always assuming that any Muslim must be a recent immigrant. To them, Muslims are practically a race and almost always Arab.

I'm guessing a large number of people with crazy thoughts about this stuff really have no idea what Muslim actually is. I would LOVE to hear them try to define it. I bet to a lot of those people it's just terrorists that don't look like them and come from "somewhere else."

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Maybe this thought deserves its own topic: The fertilizer plant fire and explosion coincides almost exactly with the anniversary of the Waco assault by the government, which was commemorated a year or so later by the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in OKC.

The Marathon bombing was on Patriot Day. Difficult *not* to imagine there could be associations.

When extremism is present, nothing else really matters: skin color, religious affiliation, points of view. An extremist will injure and kill without conscience.

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