My cousin barely escaped 9/11 with his life. When they gave the 'all clear' to go into the 2nd tower, he basically said "'F' that, I'm going home" - and the second plane slammed into that tower minutes later.

It is a test of one's commitment to one's principals to stand up for them, regardless of any desire to compromise them for personal reasons.

I have several reasons I can sympathize with 'mainstream Muslims' - namely the ones I've met over the course of my life.

I was raised Catholic. I learned a lot about persecution of Catholics in history. Growing up I thought I was Irish (my hair was more red back then, didn't know I was adopted into an Irish family) and learned about "No Irish Need Apply".

More recently, my ex-wife was told something shocking to us by a mild-mannered, pillar-of-the-community type of person who lived about 12 miles away from us and hosted the BBS where we had many discussions. My ex is Pagan, specifically Wiccan. This god-fearing Christian told her that the only reason he couldn't kill her and burn her at the stake was because it was against secular law. This from a guy who lived in a nice, suburban house in Londonderry, New Hampshire in the 1990s.

I choose not to judge everyone by the actions of a few.

I choose to stick to my principals.

I choose not to blame the guy at the 7-11 for the actions of bin Laden's rumpswabs.

I choose not to castigate my families (birth and adoptive) for remaining Catholic despite the rapists in the Church. (My disgust and condemnation are targeted at the heirarchy that allowed it).

So let me pose this question.

If we are a nation of laws and not men - if we truly believe in freedom of religion, should it matter if we lost someone on 9/11?

In other words, because someone is a victim, does that mean they should have special privileges over the law?

[And, yes, as an example, I'm opposed to some of the laws that supposedly 'protect' me, like hate-crime laws, because of my Hispanic heritage which I didn't even know about until I was almost 30]

Sigh.. More topic drift. Anyone want to start a new topic to split some of these issues off?