[Peace-discuss] Anti-racism

[John W.]

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>wrote:

Good discussion, and very interesting poll, Carl.  I have to say, I missed
> your point at first read, Dave.  You're saying that prejudice against Arabs
> or Muslims doesn't serve the same function in the US as in Israel, due to
> the smaller proportion of troops involved in US operations against
> Arabs/Muslims, right?  Of course it does serve a political purpose,
> justifying our shining democracy in its effect overseas, etc., but the
> face-to-face variety racism is always a bit different than the racism at a
> distance.  (For example I notice a difference in attitudes here toward
> Native Americans, compared to Western NY or Philadelphia, MS, where contact
> is daily, and the "threat" of some marginal power in the community more
> immediate.)  Neither is good, honestly, but there are differences worth
> exploring - and maybe we can do that here.  But you're saying Americans
> don't generally share these racist attitudes about Arabs/Muslims, these
> reflected in Carl's poll?
>
> I haven't seen a similar poll of Americans - maybe one of you more educated
> researchers has one - but I'd be a little surprised if there weren't some
> similarities.
>


I don't have any polls at my fingertips, but I get crap like the following
all the time in my e-mail inbox, sent out and propagated by "God-fearing"
Americans.  A not-so-subtle appeal to our fear of "The Other", without the
slightest recognition that we have similar fanatics/terrorists in our own
country as well:

This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have
ever read.
His references to past history are accurate and clear.  Not long, easy to
understand, and well worth the read.  The author of this email is said to be
Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well known and well respected psychiatrist.


A German's View on Islam

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a
number of large industries and estates.  When asked how many German people
were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward
fanaticism.

'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of
German pride, and many more were too busy to care.  I was one of those who
just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools.  So, the majority just sat
back and let it all happen.  Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we
had lost control, and the end of the world had come.  My family lost
everything.  I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my
factories.'
We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is
the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to
live in peace.  Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is
entirely irrelevant.  It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better,
and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the
globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.
It is the fanatics who march.
It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.
It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups
throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an
Islamic wave..
It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor- kill.
It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.
It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape
victims and homosexuals.
It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide
bombers.
The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent
majority,' is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace,
yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20
million people.  The peaceful majority were irrelevant.
China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed
to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering
sadist.  Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia
in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million
Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery.  Could it not be
said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our
posers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.
Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because
like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the
fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans,
Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have
died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.
As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group
that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this
email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows
the problems to expand.  So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on
and on!  Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about
it, and send it on - before it's too late.

Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
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