Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr
(Post 1405478)
I don't know that we can consider Isla a major religion in the United States.
70% of the people in this country identify as Christians, 23% are unaffiliated, 7% are either agnostic or atheists, 1.9% are Jewish and less than 1% are Muslim. There are almost as many Buddhist and Hindus as there are Muslims.
I consider the Muslim religion a major religion because of a few things. Unfortunately, the Jihadists and their ilk are part of this. Islam is heard and seen in the news and read in the papers every day. It is the fastest growing religion in the world today and is the second largest religion in the world. I would venture to say that in 50 years, it will surpass Christianity. No, we won't be around to see this, but I believe this will happen.
So tell me again why there should be a major article in a newspaper about a religious holiday in a country where less then 1% of the population follow that religion. It makes even less sense if we take into consideration the percentage of Muslims in The Villages where less than one half of one percent of us are Muslims.
The percentage of any population has nothing to do with the news, be it political, religious or anything else. Unless a person wants to go through life with blinders on, fine. Don't read anything. But most intelligent people want to know about things of interest, things where they might want a better understanding, things they might not be aware of, etc. I could give you many reasons why someone would like to read about something with which they don't have much familiarity.
I our almost 250 year history, Islam was hardly noticed and hardly spoken about. Now that we are at war with Muslim based organizations, we suddenly need to learn all about the faith and we need to maker sure that they are welcome.
Exactly! And without learning about something, you are at a disadvantage; you are ignorant. You can't discuss it, you don't and won't understand it and if there is a problem with it, you will never be able to do anything positive or anything about it. Because of the world situation, yes -- it is absolutely necessary that we, as Americans, need to learn about the Muslim people and the Islam religion.
I do realize that there are many peaceful Muslims that mean us no harm. Perhaps the vast majority of them fall into that category. But they have been here in the country for over 200 years and there was hardy a mention of them. Since 9/11 it seems that they have become more important for some reason.
"For some reason." Are you serious??? When al-Qaeda hijacked our planes and did those suicide attacks that wasn't reason enough? What happened on September 11th, was the stimulus for what is going on now and why it is the one of the most important things happening in the world today.
I honestly don't have any problem with a newspaper that wants to run a story about Islam or Ramadan. My question is why? There are simply not very people interested. It might make sense in some areas of the country where there is a large Muslim population, but why would they do it here?
If you have to ask why, then you absolutely do have a problem with a paper running a feature about Islam or Ramadan! I don't know you or the people with whom you associate, but I can tell you that 95% of my friends and acquaintances find this kind of article interesting. This is how we all learn and become better informed. This kind of thing is how we become better educated.
Again -- a Muslim population has nothing to do with this kind of article appearing in any newspaper. Perhaps you want to go back to the "Fun with Dick and Jane" era or the Alfred E. Newman comic books. That way you won't have to keep up with the news or live with your ears and eyes open regarding what is going on in this ever-changing dangerous world.
|
