How many News Channels does it take to form an opinion?
I will admit I love watching the car crashes in NASCAR, so when I read the opinion piece by Michael W. Jarvis, I was ecstatic.
I can see that his opinions towards the Muslim faith have a strong, and very wrong bias attributed to them. I say this with the experience of living in the northern part of Iraq for a year. Surprisingly, most of the people my group and I spoke to were Muslim, and, even more surprisingly, they were just like me. The shock of it all: people who loved their families, went to work, and were trying to live a moral life despite the times we all live in.
I’m not saying every member of Islam is a saint, but, then again, how many Christians are true saints themselves? People are people, and to blatantly attribute everyone to a common stereotype is not only wrong, but also dangerous. I hear rumor about Christian radicals who focus on fundamental ideals. Obviously, we too must judge all Christians by the same measure Jarvis has done with Islam.
Jarvis likes to point out what he considers to be a valid religion, which in itself, is derogatory towards one of the largest faith groups of the world. To help solidify his statement, Jarvis interjects how Christians in Egypt are being sexually assaulted and killed by Islamists. Did Jarvis not research how Muslims in Egypt actually stood guard at a mass in April this year against the radical members? Clearly not, because it is better to deal in absolutes.
I can understand how touchy the idea of the Million Muslim March may seem, but these are American Citizens acting on their constitutional rights to protest that men and women such as myself have sacrificed for. To deny them their right is to denounce the efforts people have died for.
September 11th was not just an attack on America, Jarvis. September 11th was an attack on the world perception of Islam as well. We now live in a world where gung-ho, war-drumming machete-mouthed lunatics speak out of fear. If you want to make the world a better place, be the example and not a misinformed outspoken critic.
-Kyle A. Poppitz
(Contact information available upon request.)
