Suggested Thinking

A Florida church's decision to hold a Qur'an burning event this year on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks is a sad reminder of the hate that can be directed toward a group of individuals as if they were a monolithic entity.  By the way, this is the same church that sent kids to school with shirts that said "Islam is of the devil".  And they have the gall to call themselves the Dove World Outreach Center.

This upcoming event, along with the recent protests of a planned Islamic community center in New York or the planned expansion of a mosque in Tennessee are showing the willingness to vilify an entire community for the actions of a few misguided fanatics.

It would be like saying all Christians are like Fred Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church and therefore we should be protesting churches across the country because of his actions.  Or condemning the Christians for actions of a few who went around shooting doctors who performed abortions or who vandalized abortion clinics.  Are these actions not terrorism?

It's amazing to me that some within these two religions who at their heart pray to the same God, the God of Abraham, can hate each other so much.  And these types of attacks, although propagated by a minority, fuel the flame of the idea of a religious war being waged between Christianity and Islam.

The US has some history of this type of stereotyping.  We've all heard of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  You would think we had learned our lesson, but then again, history tends to repeat itself, especially for those who ignore it or fail to learn its lessons.

The United States of America has long been a melting pot for many diverse cultures and faiths.  And because of the idea of religious pluralism, we've all gotten along just fine.  If we forgo this tenet of our society, we could be heading down a path that will lead to internal strife like that seen in countries around the world.  Should we become like Bosnia-Herzegovina? or Sudan? or even Iraq?  Where vying religious factions resorted to genocide to cleanse the country in what became brutal civil wars?

We need to step back and ask ourselves if we would want to be judged based on the actions of another?  Are you willing to let a distorted stereotype define you?  If not, then look at your actions and ask yourself if you're being fair to the community at large.  And then direct your energies in a way that will reflect positively on you and the country.

July was a relatively slow month for movie watching with only 5 films.  But they spanned the genre's with a documentary, a sci-fi, a couple of mysteries and an animated film.  And none got less than 3 stars.  Here they are in no specific order.

• Shutter Island
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Cube
• Lord, Save Us From Your Followers
• Despicable Me