# Is fervent anti-Islamicism a fad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 19, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281 "2010-09-19T12:25:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/41 "2010-09-19T22:11:23Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s true, the Pentagon and the WTC were perfectly legitimate military targets. We would certainly argue that if we tried to take out similar facilities against an enemy. So, you agree that we are enemies? Good. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/42 "2010-09-19T22:12:49Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > That’s true, the Pentagon and the WTC were perfectly legitimate military targets. We would certainly argue that if we tried to take out similar facilities against an enemy. > > So, you agree that we are enemies? Good. We and **Al Qaeda** and possibly other **extremist** Muslim organizations. We are not at war with Islam. And if we are, I surrender, because it’s both a) a no-win war against a billion people and b) morally wrong. Oh, and c) really, really stupid. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/43 "2010-09-19T22:19:08Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > We did not try to “minimize collateral damage”. On the contrary, we’ve taken a very casual attitude towards killing random Iraqis. Nope. We have the ability to level Baghdad and the whole country from afar, without putting U.S. soldier at risk. We didn’t do that. We used a lighter touch, putting boots on the ground, knowing that some of them would become casualties. We did that in order to minimize the death of innocent Iraqis. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And then there’s the fact that the war was wholly unnecessary, an act of pure greed, malice and aggression - we have even less justification for Iraq than Osama had for 9-11. Wrong again. We (wrongly, in hindsight) thought they had WMDs and that Saddam might give them to a group like that that murdered thousands on 9/11. Now, while you can legitimately argue that we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq, to claim that we had less justification than the barbarians that killed people as they showed up for work goes lightyears to far. But that’ what I expect of you. So, good job. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/44 "2010-09-19T22:24:08Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > > [@magellan01](#): > > > > So, you agree that we are enemies? Good. > > We and **Al Qaeda** and possibly other **extremist** Muslim organizations. We are not at war with Islam. And if we are, I surrender, because it’s both a) a no-win war against a billion people and b) morally wrong. > > Oh, and c) really, really stupid. I agree that we are not at war with all of Islam. What is unknown is to what portion of Islam is at war with _us._ It’s not a handful of guys, that much is clear. And the fact is that if people are at war with us, we’d best adopt a posture that we are at war with them. That’s not immoral, that’s the moral, responsible position. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/45 "2010-09-19T22:46:19Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > We did not try to “minimize collateral damage”. On the contrary, we’ve taken a very casual attitude towards killing random Iraqis. > > Nope. We have the ability to level Baghdad and the whole country from afar, without putting U.S. soldier at risk. We didn’t do that. We used a lighter touch, putting boots on the ground, knowing that some of them would become casualties. We did that in order to minimize the death of innocent Iraqis. We did that because we were interested in conquest, not annihilation. We put “boots on the ground” because that’s how you conquer a country, and we’ve protected those “boots” with a complete disdain for the lives of Iraqis. > [@magellan01](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > And then there’s the fact that the war was wholly unnecessary, an act of pure greed, malice and aggression - we have even less justification for Iraq than Osama had for 9-11. > > Wrong again. We (wrongly, in hindsight) thought they had WMDs and that Saddam might give them to a group like that that murdered thousands on 9/11. Pure garbage. We knew that there were no such WMDs, and that Saddam was the enemy of Al Qaeda. We wanted the land, we wanted the oil, and we wanted to use Iraq as a lab experiment for extreme free market economic policies. A concern over WMDs was never anything but blatant lies on our part. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/46 "2010-09-19T22:53:12Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > You’re forgetting that something like 28% of Muslims believe that the murdering of innocents is justifiable or sometimes justifiable. It’s hard to know what to make of these statistics. If you look at them over time (rather than just looking at one isolated poll) there seems to be a downward trend in terms of support for extremist groups. Seems like there was a peak after 9/11 which has been dwindling ever since: > **[Islamic terrorism | Muslim attitudes toward terrorism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Terrorism#Muslim_attitudes_toward_terrorism)** > > The opinions of Muslims on the subject of attacks on civilians by Islamist groups vary. Fred Halliday, a British academic specialist on the Middle East, argues that most Muslims consider these acts to be egregious violations of Islam's laws. Muslims living in the West denounce the 11 September attacks against United States, while Hezbollah contends that their rocket attacks against Israeli targets are defensive jihad by a legitimate resistance movement rather than terrorism. > In reference to suic... > [@](#): > > Most recent polls and surveys done in many of prominent Muslim countries show that the balance of forces in the world of Islam has shifted dramatically against al-Qaida’s global jihad and its local manifestations. Here are seven examples: > > Gallup conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than thirty-five predominantly Muslim countries between 2001 and 2007. It found that – contrary to the prevailing perception in the west that the actions of al-Qaida enjoy wide support in the Muslim world – more than 90% of respondents condemned the killing of non-combatants on religious and humanitarian grounds > > The not-for-profit group Terror Free Tomorrow carried out a public-opinion survey seeking to establish why people support or oppose extremism; it found that fewer than 10% of Saudis had a favourable opinion of al-Qaida, and 88% approved of the Saudi authorities pursuing al-Qaida operatives > > In Pakistan, despite the recent rise in the Taliban’s influence, a poll conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow in Pakistan in January 2008 tested support for al-Qaida, the Taliban, other militant Islamist groups and Osama bin Laden himself, and found a recent drop by half. In August 2007, 33% of Pakistanis expressed support for al-Qaida; 38% supported the Taliban. By January 2008, al-Qaida’s support had dropped to 18%, the Taliban’s to 19%. When asked if they would vote for al-Qaida, just 1% of Pakistanis polled answered in the affirmative. The Taliban had the support of 3% of those polled > > Pew Research surveys in 2008 show that in a range of countries – Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Bangladesh – there have been substantial declines in the percentages saying suicide-bombings and other forms of violence against civilian targets can be justified to defend Islam against its enemies. Wide majorities say such attacks are, at most, rarely acceptable > > The shift has been especially dramatic in Jordan, where 29% of Jordanians are recorded as viewing suicide-attacks as often or sometimes justified (down from 57% in May 2005). In the largest majority-Muslim nation, Indonesia, 74% of respondents agree that terrorist attacks are “never justified” (a substantial decline from the 41% level to which support had risen in March 2004); in Pakistan, that figure is 86%; in Bangladesh, 81%; and in Iran, 80% > > A poll conducted in Osama bin Laden’s home country of Saudi Arabia in December 2008 shows that his compatriots have dramatically turned against him, his organisation, Saudi volunteers in Iraq, and terrorism in general. Indeed, confidence in bin Laden has fallen in most Muslim countries in recent years > > In Iraq, people of all persuasions unanimously reject the terror tactics against Iraqi civilians of “al-Qaida in Mesopotamia”. An ABC News/BBC/NHK poll revealed that all of those surveyed – Sunni and Shi’a alike – found al-Qaida attacks on Iraqi civilians “unacceptable”; 98% rejected the militants’ attempts to gain control over areas in which they operated; and 97% opposed their attempts to recruit foreign fighters and bring them to Iraq sorry for the big quote ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/47 "2010-09-19T22:59:43Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > . This suggestion that theyre all bloodthirsty and evil is absurd. Who is suggesting that? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/48 "2010-09-19T23:03:44Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > That’s true, the Pentagon and the WTC were perfectly legitimate military targets. We would certainly argue that if we tried to take out similar facilities against an enemy. > > So, you agree that we are enemies? Good. You think Muslims are your enemies? Seriously? All of them? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/49 "2010-09-19T23:05:22Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > It’s exactly the same thing, and it’s exactly the way those Muslims conceptualize it. > > I don’t claim to understand the mind of people who think that the rational response to someone burning a book or drawing a cartoon is to kill people You are making a baseless assumption that a majority of Muslims think this way. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/50 "2010-09-19T23:14:37Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@magellan01](#): > > > > I don’t claim to understand the mind of people who think that the rational response to someone burning a book or drawing a cartoon is to kill people > > You are making a baseless assumption that a majority of Muslims think this way. Here’s how it works. If some Catholics priests molest children and are shielded by the church over it, that’s a just a few bad apples and not a reflection on Catholicism. If a few Muslim fanatics kill some Americans, that shows that Islam is intrinsically evil. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/51 "2010-09-20T00:23:43Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > You are making a baseless assumption that a majority of Muslims think this way. > > Here’s how it works. If some Catholics priests molest children and are shielded by the church over it, that’s a just a few bad apples and not a reflection on Catholicism. If a few Muslim fanatics kill some Americans, that shows that Islam is intrinsically evil. The Catholic Church did not task priests with the job of molesting children. This is in stark contrast with Imams who intentionally task people with murder. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/52 "2010-09-20T00:51:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > Here’s how it works. If some Catholics priests molest children and are shielded by the church over it, that’s a just a few bad apples and not a reflection on Catholicism. If a few Muslim fanatics kill some Americans, that shows that Islam is intrinsically evil. > > The Catholic Church did not task priests with the job of molesting children. This is in stark contrast with Imams who intentionally task people with murder. That’s no “stark” difference; people are still victimized who would not have been without the deliberate acts of religious authorities, either way. And the Catholic Church has tormented and killed as many or more people in its time, up to and including the present day with its crusade against abortion and its lying about condoms and therefore aiding the spread of disease. I see no evidence that there’s anything especially barbaric about Islam. Islam is evil and destructive because that is what religions are, not because of anything special about it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/53 "2010-09-20T03:19:11Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And the Catholic Church has tormented and killed as many or more people in its time, up to and including the present day with its crusade against abortion and its lying about condoms and therefore aiding the spread of disease. I see no evidence that there’s anything especially barbaric about Islam. Islam is evil and destructive because that is what religions are, not because of anything special about it. The crusades, what’s that? Tell us professor Der Trihs. Does homeland security know? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/54 "2010-09-20T11:56:32Z")
> [@godix](#): > > This isn’t only an American view. [Switzerland banned minarets](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/europe/30swiss.html) in a specifically anti-Muslim move. [France banned the burqa](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703376504575492011925494780.html) specifically to limit muslim influence. In Germany last year, [a woman was murdered because she was Muslim](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwa_El-Sherbini). Several years ago [a mosque was attacked and people stabbed](http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/061003/2006100304.html) in attacks on the Muslim community. Earlier this year, [a mosque in Canada was firebombed](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/01/04/hamilton-mosque-firebomb.html). And it wasn’t all that long ago that there was [wholesale massacre’s of Muslims in Europe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre). > > I’m not defending the US by pointing out how bad other places are. I’m not even saying these other places are horrible, in several of the situations I link to it’s clear the authorities do not endorse the actions. Germany, Canada, etc actively prosecute violence against Muslims. The Srebrenica massacre has lead to war crime hearings. So don’t make the mistake I’m going ‘These places are horrible, so the US is fine’. > > Rather, I’m trying to point out it is not a US only issue. If this is treated as if the preacher in Florida or the 9/11 mosque are the only anti-Islamic things in the world, then the discussion is going to be completely off base on what the problem is. The Americans against Muslims have no influence over people in Canada, Germany, England, etc. Whatever the problem is, it is far wider than just a few moronic pinheads in the US. True enough, although in most of these countries Muslims represent a large-ish portion of the population, or at least a visible minority if you will. Going by Wiki numbers : France : ~10% Switzerland : ~5% Germany : ~5% Bosnia : ~40% (5% in the greater Yugoslavia area) Compare to the US, where estimates on the total number of Muslims vary from 1.3 million to 5 millions. Since the total population of the US is 310 millions, that’s between 0.4% and ~2%. Canada also rocks 2%. What I’m saying is that the grand majority of French, German, Swiss nationals will have had a few Muslim classmates, co-workers and neighbours over the course of their lives. Visible minorities will always get some flak, it’s the nature of the beast. But can the same really be said of North America ? Especially of Texas, or Florida, or Alabama ? How many of the good people of Murfreesboro, TN have even seen a Muslim in the flesh, and how rational is it to fiercely hate something you don’t know and has no impact whatsoever on your daily life ? What I mean is that in other countries, some people will flock to the banner of anti-Islam out of their actual interaction with Muslims, and some politicians or journalists will and have tapped into that latent, existing xenophobia to drum up votes and sales. In the US however, it seems to me that the xenophobia stems almost entirely from Fox-like propaganda and daily Islam-bashing. It’s manufactured hatred… to drum up votes and sales too, I guess. Maybe I’ll be the only one seeing a distinction here, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/55 "2010-09-20T12:18:09Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Yes, it is a reaction. After 9/11 we were desperate to believe, with the great urging of our leaders, that the murderous even was the work of just a small band and had nothing or little to do with a religion with over a billion adherents. Nonsense. Nobody was desperate to believe that and Bush got his share of flack for saying it. After September 11th Muslims were harrassed and a few ‘Muslim-looking’ people were shot in cold blood. I lost track of how many people advocated dropping nuclear bombs on Mecca or on the entire Middle East around that time. And it’s not as if anti-Muslim sentiment got started on September 11th either. This isn’t a reaction to anything terrorists are doing. The public that has been deliberately goaded into this kind of freak out for years, and now some politicians are trying to take advantage. There’s no other sensible explanation for people going crazy about local Muslim groups with long roots trying to build facilities. > [@Kobal2](#): > > How many of the good people of Murfreesboro, TN have even seen a Muslim in the flesh [If they haven’t, it’s because they had their eyes shut.](http://abcnews.go.com/WN/murfreesboro-tennessee-mosque-plan-draws-criticism-residents/story?id=10956381) > [@](#): > > The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro’s plans call for a 52,000-sq. ft. facility that would include a pool, gym, and school in addition to a mosque. The center has had a facility in Murfreesboro since 1997, but says that with over 250 Islamic families in the community, it needs more space. > > “It is not a huge mosque as they are saying,” said Imam Ossama Bahloul. “This place is too small for us and we have to move.” > > Murfreesboro has a population of just over 100,000, according the the U.S. Census Bureau. It is about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/56 "2010-09-20T12:54:18Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@ralph124c](#): > > > > I would say that the islamic world has a big problem..most islamic countries do not have many basic freedoms that we in the west take for granted. > > However, it seems that in islamic society, it is de riguer to blame the west for everything..from sexual immorality to corruption..those JEWS and CHRISTIANS did it TO US! It is NEVER the fault of islam..always those corrupt westerners, with their immoral behavior! They even don’t stone adultresses! > > Your basis for these assumptions is what? Take a look at what went on after the Danish newspaper published the Mohammed cartoons-people were burning Danish flags, tossing Danish milk and cheese into the street, and rioting and setting fires. Heck, let’s burn a few cars and kill a few people to let those rotten danes know how we feel! This kind of behavior is what puzzles me-if they thought a bit about it, most of the harm was inflicted by muslims upon muslims-makes perfect sense! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/57 "2010-09-20T13:06:52Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Take a look at what went on after the Danish newspaper published the Mohammed cartoons-people were burning Danish flags, tossing Danish milk and cheese into the street, and rioting and setting fires. > Heck, let’s burn a few cars and kill a few people to let those rotten danes know how we feel! Rioting is a stupid reaction to a cartoon, but the reactions to those drawings were stirred up by lying religious leaders who had something to gain. So as far as that goes it’s the same as the situation with the community center in New York: people got upset because they were misled by fanatics who had something to gain. That’s also true of a lot of other outrages in Muslim countries, I think. The dictators who run those countries try to convince their people that all their problems are caused by America and the Jews when actually there’s not much of an economy aside from oil revenue, and most of that is going straight to the dictators and their families. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/58 "2010-09-20T15:09:44Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > But can the same really be said of North America ? Especially of Texas, or Florida, or Alabama ? How many of the good people of Murfreesboro, TN have even seen a Muslim in the flesh… I gather that there are more Muslims in Tennessee than one might think, but happily some of their interactions with Christians [proceed](http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-09-07-cordova06_ST_N.htm) [quite](http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/090610-cordova-christians-welcome-mosque) [warmly](http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/10/memphis-story-religious-tolerance-resonates-nation/). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/59 "2010-09-20T15:56:09Z")
Of course it’s a fad. That isn’t to say that anti-Islamicism isn’t always around, just like anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism and anti-Mormonism. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281/60 "2010-09-20T20:02:11Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@ralph124c](#): > > > > Take a look at what went on after the Danish newspaper published the Mohammed cartoons-people were burning Danish flags, tossing Danish milk and cheese into the street, and rioting and setting fires. > > Heck, let’s burn a few cars and kill a few people to let those rotten danes know how we feel! > > Rioting is a stupid reaction to a cartoon, but the reactions to those drawings were stirred up by lying religious leaders who had something to gain. So as far as that goes it’s the same as the situation with the community center in New York: people got upset because they were misled by fanatics who had something to gain. Another good example would be the Swiss minaret ban; I fail to see how banning minarets is any less stupid than rioting over cartoons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fervent-anti-islamicism-a-fad/554281.md?page=4)