We don' need no steenkin' Muslims

[lilah]

This is total horeshit. One of my friends is muslim and served in the US air force for 5 years. I am grateful for his service and happy that he's as much a citizen as I am.

[Oddeverything]

The Stinking Housewife is evil. Flat out wicked. I cannot even bring myself to read her site. It fills me full of despair because I fear that there are too many like her in this country. So all I can say here is that I am surprised she was as polite as she was in her xenophobia and borderline race hate.

[lilwriter85]

Well, I've learned something new. I had never heard before that there were any Muslims among the African slaves brought to America.

I am also curious about Muslims who came over with the Spanish conquistadors. Surely the conquistadors came over after the the Reconquest of Spain from the Muslims was completed in 1492 and after the Inquisition would have made practicing Islam illegal in Spain?

In my previous post, I should have clarified a bit more. There were some practicing Muslims that came with the conquistadors and there some men who were part Arab who also came with the conquistadors whose families practiced Islam before converting to Catholicism. The practicing Muslims eventually converted to Catholicism. There are a few surnames that are common among Hispanics that are actually Arab last names. In northern part of New Mexico, the Hispano population who are descendants of the conquistadors speak a dialect of Spanish that contains Arabic words. There are few surnames that are common within that population that Arabic surnames.

[lilwriter85]

Along those lines (the ethnicity of Muslims/white Muslims/American Muslims) can I just hugely recommend the book Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers? It's excellent and a quick nonfiction read, about a Syrian-American Muslim man, his white-American Muslim wife and his detainment during Hurricane Katrina.

I read that book a few months back it was very good and I also recommend it.

[JesusFightClub]

Sunnichick, I am very sad about all the shit that goes on towards Muslims. You absolutely should NOT have to put up with that stuff.

I became interested to learn more about Islam as a result of the weird discriminatory things said about it. One person said if he saw someone wearing niqab (he said a burqa but he meant niqab) he would rip it off! What??? And I asked "why?" and he said "The men force them to wear it, they don't really want to." So let me get this straight, even if that were true how would another man violating and attacking the niqab wearing woman and forcing HIS clothing choices on her be an improvement?

I'm glad he doesn't live where I do, I live where there are a lot of Muslims and I see women in hijab several times a day, now and then a woman in niqab. On demos to protest Israeli actions towards Palestinians, I've marched next to women so covered up only their eyes were seen and completely in black. I admit feeling it's a startling clothing choice the first time one meets a woman dressed this way but many choices are startling to others, including mine.

People have said that they felt worried or oppressed by it, they must be mental. How can someone making a very personal choice oppress someone else? The real oppressors are not hard to find and they can come in cunning guises (VF being an example...) I never had one of those women run over to me and chuck a veil over my head or swear at me or hit me for not following their religion.

Story of my first encounter with women in niqab. It was a mum and her two daughters at a zoo. We were all at the otter enclosure and the two girls were watching the otters. One turned round and said (heavy accent) "Ey, mam, tek look at this, 's so cute loike." The mum came over and said "Oh ay, 'e's gorgeous".

After that I thought, right, Yorkshire niqabis, Scottish women in hijab, fuck these people saying Islam is an "alien religion" and people should go back to their own countries, what a lot of old nonsense. It's embarassing it took me so long to work this out and such a small thing proved the point to me, and I apologise. But I never said I was a fast learner :(

[muffynbear]

Hatred and ignorance towards Muslims and Arabs in general is extremely prevalent in today's society. Apparently is some people's minds, the only religion of importance, is Christianity. Anything other than that is considered "Un-American". I think it's sickening that people are so intolerant of a religion that is different from their own. The America that I love is one of diversity and yes, the freedom to choose your own religion. Imagine that?

[Sunnichick31]

Hatred and ignorance towards Muslims and Arabs in general is extremely prevalent in today's society. Apparently is some people's minds, the only religion of importance, is Christianity. Anything other than that is considered "Un-American". I think it's sickening that people are so intolerant of a religion that is different from their own. The America that I love is one of diversity and yes, the freedom to choose your own religion. Imagine that?

Haven't watched the 2nd video yet, but I could only stand the white trashy-ness in the first video for about 45 seconds. Between the hick accent (and just so no one is offended, there IS a difference between your average, everyday Southern accent and a hick accent. Southern accents are cool, but a hick accent? Not so much.) and the probability of that woman being wasted, I just can't do the whole video LOL.

It is sad that Americans can be so intolerant of anything different at times. Of course I suppose it is human nature, not just an American thing. We (humans in general) usually want to surround ourselves with people of similar interests, values, etc.

[Guest Anonymous]

The redneck woman in the first video is kind of fascinating. She rails on about not needing an A-rab President when we are "at war with the Middle East," and says it makes no sense to elect someone with the middle name "Hussein." But that when someone mentions the "N" word, she says, "Being black has nothing to do with it." Also, she said she was going to vote for Hillary Clinton. A progressive feminist redneck bigot????

[starfish]

The Stinking Fishwife has been on a tear lately, spewing her hatred far and wide to everyone that's not her. I think she's terribly disappointed about the developments in the Dominque Strauss-Kahn case. If there's anyone she loathes more than non-white, Muslim immigrants, it's socialist French Jews. This fact really came to light in the Strauss-Kahn incident where she quickly sided with the immigrant-maid who pressed charges against Strauss-Kahn for assault. I mean, Stinking Fishwife went out on a limb and took on the Men's Rights goons to task for doubting Strauss-Kahn's accuser. Those are her core followers! Now there are serious problems with the case, and it may not be a try-able case due to some things that have come out about the maid.

Stinking Fishwife is just hating everyone right now, because the developments in the case make her appear wrong in her accusations....It reminds me a little of Nancy Grace in the Duke Lacrosse players debacle.....

[lilwriter85]

Hatred and ignorance towards Muslims and Arabs in general is extremely prevalent in today's society. Apparently is some people's minds, the only religion of importance, is Christianity. Anything other than that is considered "Un-American". I think it's sickening that people are so intolerant of a religion that is different from their own. The America that I love is one of diversity and yes, the freedom to choose your own religion. Imagine that?

I agree it is extremely prevalent. I have encountered people who think Christianity is the only religion of importance and these people refuse to learn about other religions other Christianity. The message board that I mentioned in a previous post that my friend used to post on showed ignorant some people are and how is disturbing it is. There are some Christians that are brought up to not question things about other religions and cultures that they build up the mentality that anyone who isn't Christian is Un-American.

[MerryHappy]

Interesting topic. I had a friendship of almost ten years ended not to long ago over this discussion of Muslims in the US.

The friend had basically posted a diatribe against the Muslim presence in the US. They should be tolerated as far as a religion but nothing further. No political rights. No social rights (use of welfare etc) because they are not really Americans...even if they are born in the US.

I disagreed with her and told her as much, pointing out religious freedom etc.

What startled me was that this person is not backwoods, you know? She is upper middle class. Hugely politically active for the GOP in her area and she was spewing such uneducated BS.

This hatred of Muslims scares me. It also angers me because most of the argument is pot/kettle-ish in nature.

[Nothing2CHere]

It makes me wonder, these people who rant against the Muslims, do they actually know any Muslims? I wonder the same thing about the folks who rant and rave against the ebil gays - do they actually know any gays? I know I've never met anyone on an individual level who actually embodied these stereotypes that people shout about.

[lilwriter85]

It makes me wonder, these people who rant against the Muslims, do they actually know any Muslims? I wonder the same thing about the folks who rant and rave against the ebil gays - do they actually know any gays? I know I've never met anyone on an individual level who actually embodied these stereotypes that people shout about.

The people in my everyday life that I have encountered that rant Muslims don't know any and/or they know much about Islam in general.