The paper 06 04 15

Page 1

Volume 45 - No. 22

by lyle e davis

Most of us turn away in revulsion when we hear of, or worse, see the atrocities committed by members of ISIS/ISIL. “Barbaric!” we say. But, wait.

It’s not really Muslims who are doing this . . . but the extremists who use Islam as a religious support to accomplish what they want to accomplish. We wouldn’t do anything like that, would we? Or would we?

We are doing it today. Have been for hundreds of years.

The White, Anglo-Saxons within our nation also have their extremists. Chief of which, and most well known, is the KKK, the Ku Klux Klan.

Recently, an interesting discussion developed locally on Facebook. Two images, one of a gathering of Ku Klux Klan members, and the second a portrayal of ISIS terrorists . . .

June 04, 2015

are one that spreads antiIslamic rhetoric, wake yourself up and stop the prejudice.”

Mr. Willey makes a good point. But at least one local, Stephen Siaw, former candidate for the Escondido City Council, argued: “You people need to stop smokn' weed! if you think there is some kind of equivalency here you’re just high!” He then posted a link to a video showing ISIS terrorists beheading people

Willey responds: “The "equivalency" is that you cannot link an extremist organization to a particular religion just because they claim to champion that religion. The KKK claimed to be a Christian organization and killed (included beheading, hanging, lynching, burning, women and children) people that did not fit their white-Protestant ideal. That there are some Muslim extremists that do the same does not implicate the whole of the religion anymore than the atrocities committed by the KKK cowards implicate Christians.”

Stephen Siaw, you are missing the point entirely.. The comparison is between the KKK and Christianity vs. Extremist Muslims and Islam. The point is the the KKK r e p r e s e n t s Christians as much as an organization like ISIS represents Islam.” Denim Dave Ferguson chimed in on the Facebook discussion:

“The KKK is exactly like RADICAL MUSLIMS. They both kill innocent people that don’t believe as they do. Both organizations are completely radical and filled with hate and ignorance.” Mr. Willey added:

Brian Willey of Escondido, commented on the above images: “There are around a billion-anda-half Muslims in the world. If their religion were about killing non-Muslims, the world would be a much different place. If you The Paper - 760.747.7119

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“I wonder how the Christians justified the Crusades, the Inquisition? You survived living with them. Let's not even mention that Afghanistan is a breeding ground for extremists and is not representative of the whole of the

Muslim population. I have survived living among friends and coworkers that are Muslim. How should we explain that? Ignorance breeds fear, breeds hate, breeds death. I will repeat, you don't judge a population by their most extreme examples. Denim Dave Ferguson added:

“We have many Muslim friends. They want the same things we want. Freedom to live and free to practice their religion without fear. The United States was founded on freedom of religion. In God we trust specifies no reli-

gion!” And thus began the discussion/debate . . . and our curiousity level was raised. Each party in this Facebook discussion makes valid points, though there are some divergent opinions. First, we agree with Mr. Willey that ISIS no more represents the Muslim community than the KKK represents the Christian community.

We agree with Mr. Siaw when he points out the greater degree of barbaric treatment of innocents as well as military oppo-

KKK . . . ISIS . . . a discussion Continued on Page 2


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