# Muslims: Why are we so reserved to them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 21, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812 "2002-04-21T15:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/1 "2002-04-21T15:45:36Z")
In my country, a group of Muslims staged a protest outside Marks and Spencer, a Jewish owned business of course, and were given space allowed to hurl racist abuse to Christian and Jews alike entering the shopping centre. The racists kept up the abuse until they looked towards me and my Communist friends, we called them Zealots and Bigots fouling their very own religion, which preaches tolerance and respect, then some police officers arrested us! The Cheek! My friends pleaded with the officers that they were only confronting their hatred but ignored us and said that they had the right too! I mean theres tolerance and political correctness. Has anyone else experinced this sort of behavour by them?:wally ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/2 "2002-04-21T16:20:58Z")
I’m not sure if I understand what the intention of your post is. Are you Muslim? You imply it in the title, but then talk about you and your communist friends. Are you communist? ---
**Author:** ![Efrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@Efrem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Efrem)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/3 "2002-04-21T16:26:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Komsomol \* > \*\*In my country, a group of Muslims staged a protest outside Marks and Spencer, a Jewish owned business of course, and were given space allowed to hurl racist abuse to Christian and Jews alike entering the shopping centre. > > The racists kept up the abuse until they looked towards me and my Communist friends, we called them Zealots and Bigots fouling their very own religion, which preaches tolerance and respect, then some police officers arrested us! The Cheek! > > My friends pleaded with the officers that they were only confronting their hatred but ignored us and said that they had the right too! I mean theres tolerance and political correctness. > Has anyone else experinced this sort of behavour by them?:wally \*\* Why do I think that there is more to the story then what you are telling us. ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/4 "2002-04-21T16:43:49Z")
I’m not muslim, I am a communist. I just wanted to share you my experiences and see if anyone else had anything similar. Me and my Communist friends were walking by when they were protesting and reacted. To Efrem: My story sounds supicious? ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/5 "2002-04-21T16:46:02Z")
I feel bad for talking to you; it’s like talking to a Nazi. And you even have a quote in your sig by the world’s greatest mass murderer. ---
**Author:** ![Efrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@Efrem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Efrem)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/6 "2002-04-21T16:50:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Komsomol \* > \*\*To Efrem: My story sounds supicious? \*\* It sounds a bit one sided. I mean if that realy happened the way you said it happened, you have one big false arrest claim against the police. So, yes your story does leave me a bit sceptical. ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/7 "2002-04-21T16:52:59Z")
I see no way of getting out of some hole reserved for racists so here it goes: Has anyone else been the victim of either protests by muslims or by any other group and been wrongfully accused by either being arrested or attacked. In my case it was muslims. Thats all I meant by it. Sorry if you thought otherwise ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/8 "2002-04-21T16:55:05Z")
My friends got caught up in a scuffle with them but it was started by he group protesting and then the police arrived. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/9 "2002-04-21T17:02:24Z")
Yeah, there was that time when I was arrested unfairly and thrown in the Gulag with five friends - they all died working in slave labor camps. Then there was that time when my brother in the military was shot in a general purge of officers. That really sucked. Did I mention my poor peasant grandparents, who were liquidated when some thugs took their farm? Oh yeah, then I was on vacation in Czechoslovakia, when some people engaged in a protest like the one you saw. I was lucky - the tanks didn’t roll over me. We never did figure out what happened to uncle Sergei. Some people kicked in his door one night and hauled him away, and no one ever saw him again. There are rumors that he was a dissident, but we’re all too afraid to talk about it in case we’re next. Moral of the story: He who claims to be a communist and approvingly quotes Joseph Stalin in his sig has no moral authority from which to speak. ---
**Author:** ![ignatzmouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b2d939/32.png) [@ignatzmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatzmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/10 "2002-04-21T17:10:01Z")
> [@](#): > > My friends got caught up in a scuffle with them but it was started by he group protesting and then the police arrived. I assume that you can see that this is a completely different story. Your second version of events happens all the time and has nothing to do with police policy, nor with racism. When police arrive at the scence they have no way of knowing what happened before they arrived and it is not their job to decide who started what. If you are fighting in a public street, expect to get arrested. Next time please don’t lie in your OP just to get sympathy. (And if it’s sympathy you want, I, too, would recomment you rethink your Stalin quote. There is a big difference between communism and Stalinism.) ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/11 "2002-04-21T17:10:41Z")
Want to give some examples of what you mean by “racist abuse?” ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/12 "2002-04-21T17:12:33Z")
For crying out load i quote from some dictator and everyone thinks im some sort of Commienazi I like the communist system not it’s leaders I just liked the quote thats all and I know about czechslovakia the velvet revolution and all. No capitalisist can speak with moral authority either as their crimes are as equal to that of any communist. Remember Hitler? I do not condone the crimes of Stalin committed in the name of communism. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/13 "2002-04-21T17:15:41Z")
I still am not quite understanding the events talked about in the OP and the question asked in the thread title. The muslims staged a protest. Your communist friends had an improptu counter-protest and were arrested-- is this correct so far? And your question for debate is: Why are _we_ so _reserved_ to _them_. I think I need clarification on what you mean by the words in italics. ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/14 "2002-04-21T17:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*I still am not quite understanding the events talked about in the OP and the question asked in the thread title. > > The muslims staged a protest. Your communist friends had an improptu counter-protest and were arrested-- is this correct so far? And your question for debate is: Why are _we_ so _reserved_ to _them_. > > I think I need clarification on what you mean by the words in italics. \*\* Yeah thats pretty much what happened but everyone thinks that im some sort of commienazi especially SAMSTONE ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/15 "2002-04-21T17:23:34Z")
Oh for crying out loud-what do you like about the communist system? Gulags? Purges? The torture, the lies, the killing, the opression, bloodshed, cruelty? What is it? ---
**Author:** ![ignatzmouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b2d939/32.png) [@ignatzmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatzmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/16 "2002-04-21T17:34:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Remember Hitler? Ummmmmmmm…Hitler was a National Socialist. In any case, nobody has attacked you for your communist beliefs, but for your quoting of Stalin, thus the equivalent would be if a capitalist quoted Hitler (in the bizarro universe in which Hitler was a capitalist). Try reading about communism. Marx, Engles, Lenin, and Trotsky are all more quotable and less offensive than Stalin. Not that you don’t have the right to quote Stalin, but get used to people actually judging you by the words you choose. ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/17 "2002-04-21T17:34:59Z")
The prospect of having a job from cradle to grave, free education, healthcare and full employment. Not the political ideologies ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/18 "2002-04-21T17:38:17Z")
You know, I’m not 100% crazy about the capitalist system, & it has a lot of abuses, true. But the “Workers’ Paradise” had barbed wire & minefields put up just to keep the workers from leaving. _I’d re-think the quote from Uncle Joe, **Komsomol**. M’Kay?_ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/19 "2002-04-21T17:39:28Z")
> [@](#): > > The prospect of having a job from cradle to grave, free education, healthcare and full employment. But at what price? What kind of job, education, or healthcare? A biased, slanted education, no imagination or freedom to be your own person. Living in constant fear. A job in a factory or a coal mine. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812/20 "2002-04-21T17:40:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Komsomol \* > \*\*The prospect of having a job from cradle to grave, free education, healthcare and full employment. \*\* Ah yes! Everyone wants to go to heaven, but noone wants to die. If you love freedom, you must be willing to risk giving up security. If you love security, you must also be willing to risk giving up freedom. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslims-why-are-we-so-reserved-to-them/104812.md?page=2)