Second:
As for specificly targeting civilians, muslims aren’t doing it to be evil, they’re doing it because it is an effective strategy(though that definitly DOES NOT excuse it). And guess who showed them how effective it was? The West. Everybody used civilian targets in WWII, both the Axis and Allies.

And guess who is the only country to drop NUKES on civilians that ended up kiling hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians? I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t a muslim country. September 11 was nothing compared to what we(that certain non-muslim country that I happen to be a member of) did to Japan. So we ended the war? And if the muslims thought it would get us to stop attacking them, would that make Sept 11 ok?

It seems to me that:
Americans kill hundreds of thousands of people =good
Muslims kill a lot less people = evil religion/cult/terrorists

When can we realize that terrorists and soldiers are both murderers. Why should powerful countries have the right to say whether a death is a murder or part of a war? KILLING IS BAD. Muslims who kill others are bad. Non-Muslims who kill others are bad too. It’s that simple. I agree muslims have done a lot of very awful things, but even I, an atheist, think that they are being a bit too singled out for things all of humanity does and has done throughout history.

Just remember, we killed more innocent Japaneese with just two bombs then all the innocents the Iraqi insurgents killed. If they can end the iraq war and drive the US back home, they will have achieved the same end (ending a war) that we achieved with the nukes. How can anybody say they are MORE evil than us for it?

Well, maybe somebody bothered to read all that.

Depending upon your point of view, a very similar statement could be made against the current administration of the US and Christianity. I don’t hear any Christain outrage over the deaths and anarachy in Iraq.
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then you must live in a hermitage somewhere …

I’d say that as a culture, Muslims are no deaf, dumb, or blind on a whole.

http://www.rense.com/general21/pastzionist.htm

Don’t get me wrong, Hezbollah and Hammas are not innocent in this conflict. But people need to know why these conflicts are happening before they go making stupid comments.

Why, Boortz asks, was the Muslim world silent during all those atrocities?

Why, I ask, were Christians silent during the Inquisition?

People, like I said before, want to live in peace. To oppose these fanatics where their influence is strongest would be more than dangerous. Most Muslims, I am quite sure, don’t want to make martyrs of themselves. They want to raise a familiy and live well. I admit to not being a brave man, and so I think I would keep quiet too, for fear of my life.

As for the sudden outrage over the cartoons, there I find that I partly agree. The response was way too high. This goes back to the reason I became an atheist. We must learn that the world has a lot of people, and many of them disagree with us, whether we want them to or not. However, saying that we should slap Islam across the face and threaten it with eradication is not the way to solve problems.

But that’s not the point. The question here is, “Is this man right?” And the answer is a resounding no.

Why are there so many angry Muslims? Why do they bomb us? Because that’s the story of civilization. People who feel downtrodden are angry. The people of the Middle East have become the center of the world all of a sudden. They see others who are better off than them, but they don’t think it’s fair. So what do you do when you feel angry and it seems as though the world is against you? You find a reason. An answer. For many this is religion. Religion gives purpose. I always have and always will support religion because it helps to give purpose to those that would otherwise be without. I have met people who got their lives back thanks to religion.

But religion should never justify rage and violence. The angry Muslims that are causing so much violence are saying, “Look at these foreign pigs, who have all this money but come to attack us! But you must believe in Allah, for he is behind us! He will make these foreigners pay, and we will help him!” With this rationale they justify killing people.

Not only that, but it is often the case that people simply become too subservient to a faith, to the point where they forgo anything that does not seem to be in line with it. All else is unlike them, so it can only be evil. This is how you become a bigot. Too many religious wars were started with both sides praying to God to grant them victory.

Furthermore, who’s to say that religion is actually the reason some of these people are even fighting? This is only something I’ve heard, so I cannot claim it to be true, But I heard the reason Osama Bin Laden originally came to hate America was because he lost some oil land in some way or another to the US. Might religion only be a mask in front of a more selfish goal?

Whatever the reason, we must remember that most people are not so extreme. I believe that most Muslims just want to be left alone. I have never gone to the Middle East,so I cannot say for sure, but I think they just want to be left alone because it seems to me that most people in the world just want to be left alone. So many Muslims in the Middle East are quiet because they just want this all to go away so they can live without fear of a bomb.

So, I conclude, saying all Muslims hate us and want to kill us all is wrong. As long as people are different, there will be some that will hate and some that will destroy, but most of us want to live good lives. We must take it upon ourselves to silence the raging minority for the good of mankind. And calling all Muslims terrorists is sure as hell not the way to do it.

Coming from a country that was plagued with terrorism I have no problem in saying that I have no love for Hezzbollah. Blowing up schools and buses, yes, horrible, I never supported their actions in my statement. However, I am assuming Israel have only ever blown up military targets? You have to be joking.

Correct me if I am wrong though, are Israel targeting the terrorists : yes. Are Israel targeting the people of Lebanon : yes. Power, water, roads, etc, these are all needed to survive. The UN now are uncertain they can even get aid to the people of Lebanon. Harsh? Disaster if you ask me. Yes, Hezzbolah are terrorists, but do all the Lebanese support them, no. That’s like saying all the Southern Irish supported the IRA.

The fact is the International community is pissed at Israel, and why not, they are in violation international humanitarian law.

I know this will never end, Israel attacked two ambulances, Hezzbolah attacked two ambulances back, this will go back and forward for years. Am I on one side? No, both are not innocent, but I feel the Lebanese people are suffering greatly at this current feud.

Oh, IMHO

@Patrick: Yes, atheists have committed atrocities. Though, in fairness, the extreme communist views of those particular ‘atheists’ generally involves worship of some leader or the state. In any case, being an atheist doesn’t automatically mean you’re enlightened and not evil.

As per Islam, I think it’s another case of a religion struggling to deal with reality. The more radical teachings of Islam were much more acceptable when people were isolated and tribal. But in the past couple of hundred years things have changed so much, with global interdependance, communication, travel, etc. that the old beliefs now cause major problems. This is what happens when you make something infallible; what works in one place at one time won’t work everywhere, forever.

My real problem, however, is applying anti-racism to issues of religion. Muslim is not a race. I can understand if there are people who identify with Muslim culture but don’t follow Islam, lord knows I know a lot of ‘Mennonites’ who are atheists. That’s fine, but that’s a culture, not a religion. Religion is a choice. I know a lot of people never realize this, but it is. Some people are taught from birth that if I draw a cartoon of their prophet that I’m evil. But we don’t forgive people who commit hate crimes just because their parents taught them to hate from birth, so why do we give special privelege to religious beliefs?

Medication, not politics, man!