# Why Are Muslims So Touchy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115 "2010-09-08T23:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/1 "2010-09-08T23:38:38Z")
I mean, muslims regularly burn American flags, bibles, murder the religious of other faiths, etc. But when the pastor of some obscure, 50 member church threatens to burn a koran, they go nuts! I mean, muslim apologists excuse the actions of the unbalanced members of their religion-why do they get so bent out of shape (when the shoe is on the other foot)? I recall the issue of the Danish cartoons-these caricatures were drawn by “unbelievers”, in a foreign country…so why would a devout muslim pay them any notice? Any punishment from God would be upon the unbelievers, anyway, so why should they care? By the way, NYC mayor Bloomburg has defended the koran-burnin’ pastor (along with defending the right of muslims to build their mosque near the WTC)-will he be praised or vilified? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/2 "2010-09-08T23:41:18Z")
I’m going to take it upon myself to send you a couple of hookerbots. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/3 "2010-09-08T23:41:22Z")
They’re touchy because we’re baiting them. It’s God’s work and patriotic, too. Remember, it’s worth endangering the lives of our boys overseas to poke a thumb in the eye of those Jesusless heathens - especially if it makes them do some act so heinous it gives us the excuse to wipe them off the face of the earth in War Against Terror 2: This Time It’s _Really_ Real! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/4 "2010-09-08T23:47:29Z")
Why are Christians so touchy, that’s what I want to know. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/5 "2010-09-08T23:50:11Z")
Actually, all the reactions I’m aware of to the Qur’an burning ceremony are strictly rhetorical, and most of the have been reactions from Christians and other non-Muslim groups. Who’s going nuts? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/6 "2010-09-08T23:53:06Z")
The extremely religious of any stripe tend to get very touchy about anything that seems irreverent or blasphemous. I guarantee you that there are hardcore Christians and Jews that are up in arms about things like South Park making jokes about Jesus or Family Guy making jokes about Judaism. People just take it more seriously when religious Muslims get offended because their threats of violent retribution seem credible (Christians and Jews are so well-integrated into American society that we don’t tend to view them as dangerous terrorists as a group). Plus some people view it as racist or xenophobic to say anything critical about Muslims. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/7 "2010-09-09T00:02:36Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I mean, muslim apologists excuse the actions of the unbalanced members of their religion-why do they get so bent out of shape (when the shoe is on the other foot)? Why do **people** get so bent out of shape when the shoe is on the other foot? Of course it’s very hypocritical for many of them (but not for the ones that are tolerant themselves, which there are too few of, it being a religion of human beings,) but that’s human nature. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/8 "2010-09-09T00:10:22Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I mean, muslims regularly burn American flags, bibles, murder the religious of other faiths, etc. Yeah, my family members regularly go on mass burnings of representations of American culture and Christianity. It makes it way easier when we have barbecues because, hey, there’s already a fire! And it’s been fed on the ashes of American flags and Bibles. Also, Mom and apple pie. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/9 "2010-09-09T00:17:53Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Yeah, my family members regularly go on mass burnings of representations of American culture and Christianity. It makes it way easier when we have barbecues because, hey, there’s already a fire! And it’s been fed on the ashes of American flags and Bibles. Also, Mom and apple pie. Wait, you burn _pie?!_ ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/10 "2010-09-09T01:02:36Z")
Since this is IMHO… Muslims mostly murder each other. Christians also mostly murder each other. That’s mostly because Christians and Muslims tend to live and act in places where their respective religions are the norm. Personally, I don’t think that’s any consolation, but hey. I’m kinda fuzzy right now, but the way I see it is that “Muslim fundamentalism” (and I do not mean “Muslim suicide bombers”) has been increasing in potential in the last 60-odd years or so because: 1. A feeling of cultural imperialism from “the West”. Western commerce and military expansion have pushed what some of the more pious people see as “immoral” values on the world as a whole. Some of the more fundamentalist Christians in the West feel the same way, but they don’t also have to deal with a culture that’s religiously alien [at least if you agree that Atheism doesn’t count as alien - and most European Christians would probably agree]. 2. Muslims in the West (especially in Europe) do not generally have good prospects economically. Sure there are some that get good degrees and jobs, but many come from relatively poor and poorly educated families. Note that this differs per country, for historical reasons. For instance, Muslims in the Netherlands tend to have their family roots in Morocco (Berber) and Turkey, while many/most Muslims in the UK have their roots in Pakistan or India. 3. In most of the Western world, Muslims are a minority. Being part of a minority group makes you sensitive and easily annoyed. But they are large enough to support a significant portion of complete wackos. 4. There are reasons why the Christians in the West more or less gave up their monopoly on morality, reason and law. The West has had a secular/religious separation of power (with many conflicts making that divide clear) for over 500 years. In some respects, the Catholic Church being a hierarchical disseminator of dogma and power helped strengthen the secular power of kings, republics and philosophers since it provided a clear target and philosophy to attack. Islam is not at all like that. It’s much more like Protestantism in structure, meaning it can adapt a lot faster and is much harder to pin down on principles. This also means it’s easy to fall back on literal interpretations of really out-dated texts. Compare for example the official stance of the Catholic Church on homosexuality with that of some of the fringe groups in protestantism. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/11 "2010-09-09T02:11:11Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > 1. In most of the Western world, Muslims are a minority. Being part of a minority group makes you sensitive and easily annoyed. But they are large enough to support a significant portion of complete wackos. The most sensitive, most easily annoyed Muslims are in majority Muslim countries. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/12 "2010-09-09T02:19:44Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I mean, muslims regularly burn American flags, bibles, murder the religious of other faiths, etc. **ralph124c** , there are something like 1.5 billion Muslims out there. If you treat them like they all think the same, you’re never going to understand anything done by any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/13 "2010-09-09T02:22:56Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@ralph124c](#): > > > > I mean, muslims regularly burn American flags, bibles, murder the religious of other faiths, etc. > > **ralph124c** , there are something like 1.5 billion Muslims out there. If you treat them like they all think the same, you’re never going to understand anything done by any of them. And that is exactly the point! Understand these people and they WIN! ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/14 "2010-09-09T02:26:09Z")
I believe this Onion article explains everything we need to know about the OP: [Area Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About Muslims](http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-already-knows-everything-he-needs-to-know-abou,17990/) ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/15 "2010-09-09T02:37:02Z")
edit: never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/16 "2010-09-09T02:50:06Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > Yeah, my family members regularly go on mass burnings of representations of American culture and Christianity. It makes it way easier when we have barbecues because, hey, there’s already a fire! And it’s been fed on the ashes of American flags and Bibles. Also, Mom and apple pie. > > Wait, you burn _pie?!_ Only way to prove we really hate America. If you’re not with us, you’re against us, man! ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/17 "2010-09-09T04:00:39Z")
There seems to be the opinion here that all Muslims are identical and react in the same way. They are not. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/18 "2010-09-09T04:00:56Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > > [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > > > 1. In most of the Western world, Muslims are a minority. Being part of a minority group makes you sensitive and easily annoyed. But they are large enough to support a significant portion of complete wackos. > > The most sensitive, most easily annoyed Muslims are in majority Muslim countries. There the reasons seem to be economic. While there may now be a few First World countries, there is a long history of not having very many resources. Those resources have always had to be fought over, and the more aggressive are the ones who win. So the society has evolved to have the more aggressive people at the forefront. It’s not that they are easily annoyed–it’s in how they express their annoyance. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/19 "2010-09-09T04:07:46Z")
> [@ramel](#): > > There seems to be the opinion here that all Muslims are identical and react in the same way. They are not. I hope you also respond in the same way in any thread that uses generalities. Other than maybe the OP, I don’t think anyone thinks this applies to every Muslim. I think the point of this is to ask about the trend. Why does it seem like Muslims are more likely to have aggressive, if not even violent, demonstrations over things that we consider quite minor? It doesn’t mean that all or even most Muslims act this way. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115/20 "2010-09-09T04:23:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@ramel](#): > > > > There seems to be the opinion here that all Muslims are identical and react in the same way. They are not. > > I hope you also respond in the same way in any thread that uses generalities. > > Other than maybe the OP, I don’t think anyone thinks this applies to every Muslim. I think the point of this is to ask about the trend. Why does it seem like Muslims are more likely to have aggressive, if not even violent, demonstrations over things that we consider quite minor? > > It doesn’t mean that all or even most Muslims act this way. It’s probably the same reason why Americans react aggressively, even violently, when someone burns the US flag… I personally couldn’t care less, even if it was my country’s flag. Different cultures express things differently; and often from the POV of the outsider it seem downright silly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-muslims-so-touchy/553115.md?page=2)