You’ve clearly never ridden the tube; chanting and shouting is par for the course. 
I note, though, that Muslims praying is scary enough for you that you would have them arrested, but not so scary that you’re willing to do even the tiniest bit of research into their prayers. You’re foolish even from your foolish position.
Yeah, people who are different from us are inherently dangerous! I agree. How can we be rid of these people?
They can choose to not be understanding or to be understanding. That doesn’t mean they still wouldn’t be pissed about it, only that they see why people might have reacted. It’s not as if their actions had nothing to do with things. Six Muslim guys praying, spouting “Allahu” and badmouthing the war are no a trifecta that would lessen suspicion.
No. But, and no snark intended, seriously, but I think this is a ridiculous bar to have to reach. If it weren’t, we could just make sure box cutters don’t make it on a plane and turn a blind eye to the rest. I do think there garb should have been seen as an indicator that they were not up to bad shit. Given all the other factors (praying, “allah”, criticizing the war), the fact that they were drawing attention to their Muslim-ness should have given those who were suspicious more comfort than if the were not is Muslim garb.
Ironically, now that this has happened, that would probably no longer be the case.
But, this isn’t about you, as someone who seems to have had substantial exposure to Muslims. You seem to agree that a bunch of Muslims praying might be an unusual sight for many people. Given the location and the other reported activity it seems that you might see others’ cocern—and subsequent possible overreaction—as not unreasonable.
I guess you are arguing this point then, no? We agree that the freedom of religion does extend to praying in public, even at an airport. But if you are a middle-eastern male and are screaming “Allah Akbar” as you walk onto the plane, wold you think it unreasonable that you’d get yanked off and questioned, probably even arrested? And all for just espousing your belief that “God is great”? Even if you did so because you were simply terrified of flying?
I think there’s room between being afraid of “every Muslim you see” and being wary of 1) Muslims 2) in groups 3) in U.S. airports 4)praying before boarding a flight and 5) bad mouthing the war. All five of those alter the equation somewhat, don’t yo think?
No. Your millage clearly does vary, I think you’re overreacting. A great deal.
What, specifically about muslims worshipping endangers your life and safety?
Not that I can see. Most people in the U.S., today, are badmouthing the war. Muslims pray at specified times, so if the time came while they were at a boarding gate, (waiting around with all the other bored passengers for the airline people to actually do something to process the tickets), that would seem to be the appropriate time. People who fly on airlines are often seen at airports and Phoenix is a lot easier to reach from Minneapolis by plane than by bus. Minneapolis had just hosted a meeting of the North American Imams Federation, meaning there were likely to be more Muslims traveling at the same time (not as a group). And being Muslim just makes the matter one of religious discrimination.
What if these Arabs were chanting:
You also said you’d be worried when they tried boarding “the bicycles”.
I thought you were talking about Imams boarding the bicycles.
As everyone knows, the best jokes are the ones you need to explain afterwards! :smack:
-Joe
It’s certainly more likely to be that than it is “Ok, everyone got the explosives ready?”
magellan, I’m not sure what you mean when you say that the six Imans should have been “more understanding.” What specific actions did they take that show them not to be “understanding?” What did these men do that you think they should not have done?
Of course, it is easier to make things look bad if one simply makes up facts to suit one’s beliefs.
The claim is that three of them joined to pray before having their tickets processed not “while boarding the plane.” There has been no accusation (by the people in Minneapolis) that anyone was screaming. The group claims that they moved way from the ticket post and tried to be unobtrusive. The woman at the ticket booth says they were “loud.” This would seem to indicate the normal human tendency to filter one’s perceptions, in which the imams probably tried to tone down their chants from the normal volume while the very presence of chanting men (in a place where most conversations are merely spoken) seemed loud to someone unfamiliar with them.
So by changing their actions from praying to screaming and changing the time and location from the boarding area prior to opening the ticket priocess to while walking onto the plane, you get to change what really happened into something that you want to portray as scary.
That is not being reasonable.
The 9/11 hijackers were clean shaven and dressed in western garb. They didn’t pray in public and they made a point to look at pretty women and even to drink alchohol. They did all of this under the advice and blessing of their Al Qaeda leaders and religious advisers. I don’t know if they had round trip tickets and checked baggage, but it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be a pretty easy and obvious way to deflect attention.
It appeared to me in the brief video I saw on telivision that that the Imams’ dress was western. But that’s neither here no there.
What gets me , given the legitimate gist of your post, is that there is no legitimate excuse for a passenger waiting to take off to be concerned by any individual unless that individual overtly telegraphs his dastardly intentions.
That’s all right. At least we were focussing on Imams’ knees rather than Mormons’ knees. I don’t think my self-confidence could sustain an examination of my crappy bike or my bald knobby knees.
In fact, I think I’ll go hide in the corner, pull my shorts over my knees, and cry now. I’m getting flashbacks of 2nd grade all over again. Thanks, Merijeek.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1) - Cite This Source
hy?po?thet?i?cal? [hahy-puh-thet-i-kuhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
[Origin: 1580–90; < Gk hypothetik(ós) supposed (hypo- hypo- + the- put (base of tithénai to put, do1) + -tikos -tic) + -al1]
—Related forms
hy?po?thet?i?cal?ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. suppositional, theoretical, speculative.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Polycarp, this one is even scarier, since it contains the word “Allah”:
No, there are plenty of things we can be aware of in trains or airports: strange behavior, nervousness, excessive clothing on a warm day. Hell I’ll even say that airport security should make a note of one-way tickets with no checked bags, possibly subjecting such passengers to extra screening.
Prayer just isn’t one of those things.
I can’t seem to get into either of the links, but given what’s been said in this thread, I really don’t have a problem with these people not being allowed to fly. They acted in such a way as to cause others to become suspicious. Suppose they did have ill intent, and were using reverse psychology? Can you imagine the outcry afterwards?
Strange behavior? I’ve seen all kind of strange behavior at airports, yet I’ve never overheard an angry political conversation at an airport. At least in English. That would be strange to me.
Nervousness? Prior to a flight? Lots of people are nervous prior to a flight.
Excessive clothing on a warm day? I’ve worn a bulky coat on a winter vacation to Florida from Ontario to save luggage space.
How is a passenger to know that the other passenger is on a one way ticket and has no checked baggage ? My previous comment after all is from the perspective of a passenger.
I can just see the captain receiving a not from a passenger telling him that their is a person on board who is acting strange, is nervous and wearing an overcoat.
Oh, ralph, ralph, ralph.
Yet again the logic train (not to mention the grammar bus and the syntax elevator) has passed you by.
Since you weren’t (to the best of my knowledge) actually on the flight, your life and safety weren’t really threatened.
Even if you had been, it would have taken a severe allergic reaction to prayer for you to be in any danger, since, y’know, they weren’t actually going to blow up the plane.
I am now imagining if the clerk who sold the tickets to the 9/11 monsters had been as perceptive, like you asked. It’s going to take a lot of imagination, since the 9/11 hijackers purchased their tickets online, but here goes:
Clerk: Can I help you?
9/11 Guy: I would like four tickets to New York JFK, please.
Clerk: One-Way or Return?
9/11 Guy: One-Way.
Clerk: Certainly, sir. If you would be so kind as to place your hand on the counter, palm down?
-9/11 guy cooperates, clerk checks skin tone against chart-
Clerk: I’m sorry, but you are outside the range of permissible skin pigmentations for this flight. TSA regulations, I’m afraid.
9/11 Guy: Well, what flights am I allowed on?
Clerk: Anything that doesn’t fly near tall buiildings, or strategically sensitive locations. Can I interest you in a flight to Iowa? Or visit beautiful Cancun, Mexico!