What makes regular Muslims turn into crazies?
Quâest-ce que câest?
(Jâai fait une correction Ă mon français)
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Thatâs just tragic. Heart broken for his loved ones.
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Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better. Run run run run run run run awayâŚ
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The other Trumptard victim.
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From that link, Ape:
As an American Muslim who has lived in Portland for 31 years, I went numb when I learned about this attack. This is my city, a city that not only is full of loving and tolerant people but also one that has consistently shown its character at times of difficulty. After 9/11, my mosque (the Portland Rizwan Mosque) stood out as being the first and oldest mosque built in Portland. Although we received a handful of threatening calls, we received more than 200 calls of support. People lined our doors with flowers and messages of support, reminding us that we are welcome as neighbors here in our home.
But yesterdayâs attack opened my eyes. First, I learned that despite the tolerance, ignorance and fear still lives within people here in my city. Pew Research reported in 2014 that 62 percent of Americans donât know a Muslim, which explains why so many Americans are convinced that Islam and/or Muslims stand against the values and freedoms of our country. If you donât know a Muslim, how will you ever know whether the hyped narrative online is true? Even here in Portland, this ignorance is providing fertile soil for hatred and fear to grow.
But I also learned what true character, valor and courage look like. These three men who protected these teens put themselves at risk by standing up for those who could not do so for themselves. They are real-life heroes. My heart and prayers are with the families of these heroes. Your lives are changed forever, but please be proud of your loved one and know that they have inspired countless people with their courage and integrity. And as a man of faith, I am convinced that God will reward them in the afterlife, where I pray they find eternal peace.
Finally, as a Muslim I learned that I have much work to do. I am proud of the interfaith and outreach work that we have done within the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, but we failed to reach Jeremy Christian, whose Facebook page demonstrates that his far-right extremist views were never resolved. For the past five months, I have been sitting for two hours every Saturday at Washington Square Mall to meet people and give everyone an opportunity to meet a Muslim. Itâs part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Communityâs nationwide initiative âCoffee, Cake and True Islam,â which is meant to remove ignorance through conversation. We are there every Saturday and will seek more ways to make ourselves available.
To the unnamed heroes and the many courageous souls who tended to the victims and even chased after Christian when he fled the scene, I thank you. As a Muslim, as an Oregonian, as an American, as a father and as a human, I thank you for showing me that humanity and honor are still alive. To all my fellow Americans and Oregonians, I ask you to honor these heroes, but I also ask you to inculcate that same spirit of courage within yourselves to destroy any ignorance, fear or hatred that may live in your heart. You will find in me a partner in that cause.
Harris Zafar is the national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. He lives in Southwest Portland.
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I shared a house with an Iranian for a couple years, I had the basement I was a sitting duck, or maybe Yazdanâs aka Danâs handlers in Tehran thought i helped with cover.
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I havenât counted them up. I know/have known several (maybe half a dozen) quite well, and I have had possibly hundreds in my classes, have worked with more than I can remember, and have friends who have Muslim friends. Have done business with countless Muslims. Why do you ask?
Sorry, I meant that for Lou.
Iâm sure itâs just a coincidence that both know Muslims and we both view them as human beings.
I know maybe fifty on a first name basis. Most (maybe 2/3) of them are American born Sufis, so that may not count. And probably half of those Sufis have left their order in the 20+ years Iâve known them and are no longer Muslims.
Sorry. I was kind of telling Lou that.
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I donât know any muslims, Iâm ok with kicking out the muslims if we can send all the Christians back to their promised land Israel. I know quite a few Christians.
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None.
I donât consort with the enemy.
Theyâre just people.
They are components of a vile and heinous belief system that is at war with us.
If they are at war with us, does that mean we are at war with them?
Havenât our belief systems been at war for centuries?
That is both erroneous and disingenuous.
There were wars in the Middle AgesâŚwhich THEY won.
Britain colonised parts of the middle east, as did France, but most were granted self rule by the end of World War 2, when Britain could not afford to resource garrisons in far off countries.
Hostilities kicked off again when the Jews claimed part of the area that the British were holding under the global arrangements at cessation of the War. Odd fact; it was the Jews that first used terrorist tactics to force the British to leave the area known as Palestine. On the British departure, the Jews formed a government which irked the largely muslim population surrounding what became Israel.
Because the muslims perceived that western nations, specifically the US, were empowering Israel and thus denying the indigenous Palestinians a homeland, they began a war using terror against US and European targets. Oddly again, it is well documented that the Palestinians were co-ordinating with the IRA, the Red Brigades and other terrorist organisations, and were supplied largely via the Soviet Union, using Poland as the go-between.
I donât think the West fired an angry shot at the middle east until the US parked a warship off the coast of Lebanon and started firing at Lebanese terrorist held areas around Beirut in support of the Christian led government of the day. By that time, terror attacks on western targets were frequent.
Not until America was beseeched by members of the UAE and Saudi Arabia to free Kuwait from Iraqi invasion forces were western militia in action in the middle east.
Prior to that event, terror attacks were instigated on US soilâŚparticularly the attempting destruction of the WTC by bombs planted in the buildingâs basement.
The notion that terrorism arose from western military action in the middle east is wrong in fact.
I never made that claim but thanks for the novel proving my point.
We are as much âat warâ with them as they are with us.
Very well written, nicely organized, however.