Why the outrage?
According to CNN.com, people are outraged that there will be pro-Islam posters on New York City subway trains in September. The ads are very simple black and white ads with a simple phrase related to Islam, and a web address where you can find out more about the religion. The dates were chosen to correspond with one of their holy holidays.
Why are people so against this idea? One man claimed it was due to the fact that one of the backers may have been involved in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. This man has not been sent to trial or convicted, however. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? It seems that as long as the website is promoting the religion and not extremism then the ads should be fine.
The point that the ads would be up during the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy was also used. Does that really matter though? Extremists and terrorists were behind that event. Granted, many (or all?) of them can be linked to Islam. But does that mean that all Muslims are terrorists? NO! If people get worried during the anniversary because there is a simple add asking you to learn more about Islam, then that is their own narrow-minded problem. I see no reason for the city of New York to keep a religious group from simple advertising. They should keep the ads up specifically for this reason, to make people think twice about stereotyping and fearing an entire religion.
5 comments:
Thank you Northern Belle!
It's nice to hear some common sense.
I truly don't understand the commotion, it's just people living in their ignorance and refusing to even attempt to understand anything beyond their little sphere.
And thank you for stating not all Muslims are terrorists:) I think this very BIG fact gets lost among the various crap floating around about Muslims.
Thank you for your sincere comment.
Thanks to both of you for finding my blog and commenting! It's always great to hear that others appreciate what I write.
It really bugs me when people are so narrow minded and uncaring for others. I really and truly hope they show the ads anyway! It would be great if everyone would just be a little more sensible about it.
I could not of have said it better myself. Fear and hate are the reasons why we are where we are today. If we can tolerate victoria secret ads with half naked woman on our subways I think an add that promotes religion is a major upgrade.
Actually, belichick007 I do have some idea about how intolerant many Islamic countries are of others. Not all Muslims are that way though, just as not all Christians are intolerant of other people's religions (even though some are, which likely is one reason we are having this type of problem).
Muslims in the USA have time and time again proven themselves to be peaceful people. Do I support promoting a world of violence, a world of hate, or a world of intolerance? Absolutely not. I support giving every religion the right to advertise, so that other people can find out what they are really about. Do you have to convert to Islam because you saw an ad? Certainly not. Might you learn more about the peaceful Muslims who have no intent to cause harm to people of other religions, and broaden your knowledge of another group's beliefs? Definitely.
That movement of peaceful Islam has been around for quite some time. It's just that the problematic version gets all the press. Yes, there are Islamic extremists that are as bad as Hitler, that want to rid the world of everyone who is not Muslim. But there are Christians like that, white supremacists that want to rid the world of all who are not of European descent, and many other types of terrorists with the same type of ideas but that are not related to Islam. What we need to do is not support those that support terror against other groups, whether they are women, a certain race, a certain religion, etc.
Your post sounds as though you support discrimination against all Muslims, even those who would never support violence against others. I cannot possibly agree with that. Why is it so hard to be tolerant of another peaceful group? From what I can tell from browsing their website (whyislam.org), they are giving information about the religion and trying to rid people of the notion that all Muslims are evil. What's so horrible about that? They don't lay it on any thicker than any other religious group would.
This website is supporting a religion, not a country. Those are two very different things.
I may not agree with all that Muslims teach and believe, but I still support the right of peaceful Muslims to believe and explain their religion to others. It seems that the main group supporting the ads have nothing to do with terrorism, so there is no real reason to NOT show the ads. I see nothing on the website supporting violence (in fact, the exact opposite is there).
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