Um, wrong
Just because you send a racist forward, doesn't mean that you support it, right?Does that sentence look as dumb to you as it does to me? A friend forwarded me an email which listed some tragic/terroristic incidents done by Muslims, and which ended by telling people to boycott the Eid (Muslim holiday) stamps that are currently being sold at US Post Offices. I wrote her back telling her that it's not Islam that is to blame for the actions for some people who call themselves Muslims. I know that I personally would love to be able to forbid Dubya from acting like a right moron in the name of Jesus and G-d, especially when he is so out of touch with basic Christian principals, much less basic human decency. The point is, there are crazy/stupid/messed-up people of every (or no) religious persuasion, and the blame for their actions should not be cast onto the entire body of people who follow that religion.
My friend wrote back to say that she doesn't believe that sending that email should have been taken as an endorsement of the ideas enclosed. Right. What else was I supposed to conclude? I am so frustrated, mostly because she doesn't see anything wrong with telling people to avoid something connected with a specific religion, and then going on to say that she doesn't discriminate against the people of that religion.
I have no tolerance for the way that the post-9/11 atmosphere has allowed people with anti-Muslim prejudices to call their beliefs patriotism, and to question anyone who doesn't indiscriminately blame an entire religion for the actions of its fringe members.
