Who is "we" in your sentence?

Submitted by Deb (United States), Dec 13, 2002 at 00:36

When you say "We have the same beliefs as you do" who is the "we" in that sentence?

It seems to me that there is no collective "we" in the community of Islam--at least not one that will call itself anything other than peaceful and moderate. Which is exactly why I'm so confused...If all 1Billion of you are peaceful and moderate, then who are the millions who live in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, the West Bank and Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Quatar, Sudan, Somalia, Chechnya, Albania...{I'll stop there) who:
- Dance in the streets when Americans died on 9/11
- Openly voice their support for terrorists and suicide bombers
- Openly channel money to terrorists and bombers
- Fill terror training camps with a steady supply of recruits
- Fill madrassas with steady supplies of students eager to learn about the evils of the West and why martyrdom is something to strive for
- Riot and kill innocent people because of an article in a newspaper about a beauty contest

Do I need to go on?

So who is "we" then? If you are out there, we're not seeing you, that's for sure, and who's fault is that? "We" (definition: the non-Muslim community) are not reponsible for defining what you believe and what you don't believe; what you support and don't support, you are. So, until we hear a resounding cry against things like the above, WE are going to believe that what you say is not the mainstream view. Sorry, but that's just human nature. Sorry if it hurts your feelings.

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