If you were a muslim how would you feel at this moment

[Must_B_Free]

If you livedn in the islamic world, how would you feel about the message purported to be delivered by Osama bin Laden.

I know he's the the worst villan from our perspective, but outside our perspective, would you thgink this guy is crazy like Bush? Was there anything truthful or honest about what he said?

[phylny]

1. I suppose it would depend upon where I lived.

I know a few people who are Muslim, and had a discussion with one woman in particular. She's celebrating Ramadan (sp?) right now, and we talked a bit about that. She had her TV on, and I asked what it was because there was a lot of singing, and the subscript looked Arabic, and she said it was prayers. I asked, "Am I keeping you from praying now?" She responded, "No, it's not time here yet." She told me she has satellite reception from many other countries, and that she gets news from all over the Middle East, including Al-Jazeera.

We started talking about how we in the U.S. see one side of the Iraq war, but she must see a lot of things we don't on Al-Jazeera (not that I think they're totally unbiased, either).

Anyway, long story short, she asked who I was voting for, and I told her Kerry. She agreed (she can't vote yet, but her husband can), and said that Bush has made a huge error in attacking Iraq. Her culture, she said, is different than ours, and when Bush starts talking about how he's bringing democracy to the Muslim world, she said he's equating our culture with the culture in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and other countries with a deep Muslim base. Guess what?

THEY DON'T WANT TO BE US!

Yeah, I know we're all shocked.

I'm being long-winded, but if I were a mother in Iraq and I lost my husband or my children or members of my family or close friends, you can imagine just how I'd feel about the message. In fact, I'm a mother here in the U.S., and if someone harms my children, my husband, my friends, or my family, all good-will and rationality goes out the window.

[legally blonde]

2. I'm not going to speak for Muslims

I'm not sure how Muslims in the Middle East feel about OBL. I'm not Muslim, but my boyfriend is. He and his family are from Egypt (they also have lots of family in Egypt and other ME countries). We've discussed OBL and the Muslim extremists. Basically, he and his family believe that OBL is a wack-job. From their prospective, OBL has completely ruined America's (particularly fundamentalist Christians) view of Islam. Islam is a peaceful religion. It doesn't advocate violence. OBL's view has completely distorted Islam.

[maxsolomon]

5. forgive me if i question that characterization.

i don't consider christianity a peaceful religion, though that is jesus' main message.

SOME muslims may take a message of peace from their religion, but a whole hell a lot of less-evolved muslims don't.

just like christianity & judaism. hypocrisy, thy name is abrahamic monotheism.

[legally blonde]

6. it is true that

SOME Muslims do not take a message of peace. But there are millions and millions of Muslims around the world who do. There are crazies in every religion--Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. It's not fair to characterize any religion as violent because of a few fundamentalist nutters.

[indigobusiness]

3. With my sense of touch,

primarily.

[Sinnerman]

4. Muslims are good people