I know a lot of my blog readers will probably disagree with me on this point, but I'm not as afraid of the Muslims as a lot of "conservatives" are. In fact, it is one area in which I basically agree with President Obama--we need a better relationship with those people, not continually cursing them.
The reason I have this perspective is that I don't believe all Muslims are like Osama bin Laden. In fact, I know they aren't. The vast majority of Muslims are a decent, respectful, peaceful people who don't blow up others with suicide bombs. There is that element, of course, and it is very radical. But they are fighting for what they believe in, which is their own civilization, and they don't want ours crammed down their throats. If you were a devout Muslim, looking at the United States, what would you think? You see Hollywood, drugs, alcohol, illicit sex, abortion, feminism, homosexuality, debauchery--everything that is contrary to your religion. And to them, that's democracy (and they are largely correct). You better believe they are going to fight it. Devout Christians in America are fighting against those things as well, and if the left literally went to war against Christianity to enforce its views, devout believers would fight for their convictions, too.
And regarding the Palestinians and their "suicide bombers"--if somebody came in and stole what had been your homeland for 2,000, bulldozing your houses, and oppressing your people, what would you do? You'd fight back any way you could, just like the American Indian did when the white man went in and stole his land. I'm sorry, folks, I'm not pro-Israel. At the moment, I won't go into the theological reasons why (which is the basic reason I'm not), but I can understand perfectly well why the Palestinians are doing what they are doing. They are fighting for their homeland, and frankly, have been a whole lot more reasonable than the Israelis. Yassir Arafat was willing to give up almost 80% of what was formerly Palestine, his people's homeland, to Israel, if the Palestinians could just have part of the land to live on. But the Israelis want it all. Who's been the reasonable party here?
Again, I certainly don't agree with blowing innocent people up, but it isn't like the United States hasn't killed a few non-combatants in the Middle East, too. And how many Palestinians have the Israelis killed? Most of the Muslims are fighting the only way they know how and with the only tools they have, because they own no aircraft carriers, tanks, missiles, etc. A guerilla warfare, to save their civilization, is all they've got. And to repeat, the vast, vast majority of Muslim people are not terrorists. We only hear about the bad ones on the news. And a large part of that is because the Jewish lobby is one of the strongest, probably the strongest, in this country.
I don't think Mr. Obama should cradle dictators like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. You can't be nice to people like that; all they understand is strength. But a better dialogue with moderate, decent Muslims wouldn't be a bad idea. And if we Christians don't like the fact that Muslims want to convert people to Islam, then why don't we do a better job of what we are supposed to be doing, viz, "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
ADDENDUM: Last night, after I had already posted this article, somebody sent me an email of a speech made by a European (Danish) politician. (I'm almost certain that the person who sent me the email had not read my article). This politician was decrying the Islamization of Europe, how Muslims are moving in all over the continent, living in little enclaves, not assimilating, beating people up, will be the majority before long, yada yada yada. Oh, my, something must be done about all these Muslims moving into Europe!
Well, who's fault is it that the Islamic peoples are entering, and remaining in, European countries? Go look in the mirror, Europe.
I've lost all respect for western Europe (eastern Europe is somewhat different, having lived for 70 years under Soviet tyranny). The people in western Europe have given up freedom for governmental dependence. Folks, freedom takes courage, freedom takes strength, it takes sacrifice and self-discipline. It means taking risks, taking responsibility, and accepting the consequences for your actions. It's the hard way, but it's the most rewarding.
Western Europeans have decided to opt for the easy way, dependence, to let somebody else (government) take care of them. People that do that lose all their character, internal strength, and sense of duty and responsibility. And probably self-respect, too. But they don't need any of those things, because they are letting their governments provide them cradle-to-grave security. Thus, they elect politicians who have no intestinal fortitude, either; they cannot defend their own countries because they, too, think in a "dependent" mode. These EU bureaucrats haven't a clue how to stop the Muslim invasion, and they wouldn't have the guts to do it if they did. When people become dependent, they no longer know how to take care of themselves, or defend themselves, or protect their own homeland. They are too...dependent.
I have absolutely no use nor respect for able-bodied people who won't take care of themselves, who sponge off others, and think it is their right to do so. Wealth is to be earned, not redistributed. Government is happy if people want to be dependent, though, because that gives the politicians and bureaucrats more power. The United States has been heading this way for over a generation now; more and more of our own people are sucking off the government teat, and they want it that way, and they don't care that it's somebody else's money, money that they didn't earn, that they are spending. And the teat-suckers think they have a right to it. Why? Well, Barack Obama and just about every other politician in Washington (on both sides of the aisle) tell them that they do. Obama and the Democrats especially are doing everything they can to create as many dependent people as possible, to turn this country into another western European-type socialistic graveyard. Our politicians are too busy buying votes with other people's money that they can't defend our borders, either. There are still many in America who are fighting it, more so now that it's become clear what Barack Obama truly is and what he wants to do (something that a lot of us knew a year and a half ago). But it's a losing battle. Too many people prefer security to freedom, dependence to individual responsibility, theft to work, and there are too many vapid politicians who are more than ready and willing to give it to them. We haven't caught up with western Europe yet, but we are getting there. And if we keep electing people like Barack Obama, we'll be there in no time.
So you Europeans stew in your own Islamic juice. It's your own fault for giving up the strength of character to take care of yourselves in exchange for having someone else coddle and burp you. But, unfortunately, too many in America are trotting along right behind you, eager for the same thing. And we'll suffer the same consequences. Well, we already are, it's just that our invasion is from the south.
Reckon what would happen if those Muslims tried to do in China what they are doing in Europe.