Well, I think one thing the attacks in Paris did was to galvanize the French into action. That is a good thing. However, it is very sad, unfortunate and tragic that so many innoccent lives had to be lost for this to happen. the French have always been allies and it is nice to have them in the battle. Yes, you have to separate the religion from the radicals that are involved in it. Too many people think it is all muslims...and it is in fact a small faction that is violent and jihadist.
I think that's a broad generalization. The people that carried out the attacks were, indisputably, MUSLIMS, acting based on their interpretation of their deeply-held religious beliefs. It is simply impossible to divorce ISIS from Islam. If it's true that attackers were screaming "Allahu Akhbar!" as they carried out the assault, how are they NOT doing it in the name of Islam? I also think that you can give people a little more credit--outside of the idiocy of the punditry and mass media sphere, for instance, I've seen quite a bit of Conservative commenters, actual human beings, not paid exponents of the media, express that they're fully aware that they can't paint Islam with a broad brush, and they also recognize that ISIS has slain a ton of Muslims as well.
I've noticed that the media are making a point of interviewing muslims and how they feel about this, some feel ostracized and others are as distressed. The point is that these terrorist groups attack places of western culture and not muslims, even though muslims have been killed in attacks, but the places they frequent have not been targets so far. I think that they are trying to ensure the public stop fearing or blaming muslims, however, this happens each time there is an attack, yet how can people feel safe when the terrorists are all muslims? People shouldn't classify, but it's hard not to when they see the names of the terrorists and their images and compare them to others.
So why is it necessary to throw in Islam with ISIS? It's obvious there interpretation is so perverted and so far off track of what Islam actually is that it doesn't even come close to resembling the same religion. Some commentary out there is just going too far though. Trumps comments about basically reinstating Nazi Germany tactics to mark Muslims and force them to be on a registry is just... beyond me. I don't even know how someone could come to that conclusion of that being the solution to the problem. ISIS needs to be wiped out, nobody's arguing that. But I just don't get the point of trying to tie them in with Islam when the two ideology of ISIS and Islam aren't close.
I'll give credit were credit is due, and while there are refugee camps being set on fire all across Europe as people ARE saying they're all the same and taking out what happened on the genuine refugees then I'll stand by my point.
Hi Thejamal, when you have people that believe they are engaged in a righteous and even holy war, who believe that what they're doing will lead them to paradise, it is impossible to divorce that system of beliefs from the actions, even if those actions spring out of what some believe to be a warped interpretation of that ideology. People like Trump are, to me, examples of extremists, but I truly think a more nuanced approach to the issue is what's warranted, and I think that part of that nuance includes an indictment of certain Islamic principles that embolden these people to act this way in the first place. Is that clear, or does that make sense? I've actually been ingesting a lot of right-leaning and more Conservative commentary on this, but you can't go to the mainstream press because their job is to create sensation, not necessarily to inform. I think most sane people have no problem with Muslims as a whole, and they recognize extremism, but they, like myself, are frustrated that it's been deemed inappropriate to talk about the issue while including the Islamic faith in that discussion. I hope that's clear, as well.
Extremism from any angle is bad, I think we can all agree on that. I've been wrestling with these issues for the past couple of days, and it's such a gigantic mess at this point. Another wrinkle is that many are saying that a lot of the migrants aren't even refugees, they are able-bodied young men simply looking to mooch off of the governments of the European countries offering welfare (from what I understand Sweden and Germany are on the fast track to economic devastation because of their generosity as far as benefits go).
Very clear and good points. I think a key issue you brought up is media sensationalism on both sides where some outlets are trying to tie these terrorists with all of the Islamic faith while others refuse to even point out that they are indeed Muslim. But while we can of course denounce these perverse principles of the Islamic faith, it's still important to keep the dialogue going that basically all Muslims are not even close to practicing the same religion as these terrorists. I guess what frustrates me is hearing people/media pundits try and lump the majority in with the very slim minority. It's not localized to just this issue either as we see it in virtually every news story nowadays.
This is Merkel's last mandate, I'm sure of it. And by her mistake of accepting everyone within the EU, extreme right parties are gaining power by days passing. I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but the German neonazi party has 3 parliamentarians in there! Mightn't seem much, but they have an influence over the decisions the country makes.
Merkerl has been quite quiet compared to her coverage when she opened up the doors to Germany. Everyone could see the pitfalls, so why couldn't the Germans, or were they so arrogant and confident they could spot a terrorist posing as a migrant and stop them coming in? Is she to blame? Maybe partly, but the whole concept of the EU has allowed these terrorists to move undetected for years. Coupled with liberalism and human rights taking precedent over the safety rights of citizens seems to have created an imbalance; to protect the rights of potential terrorists in the name of freedom, until they actually kill.
