cyrnel

To some degree groups need to be proactive. Marginalize the extremists. Too much assumption by moderates that they obviously disagree with the nutballs in their crowd can lead to assumptions by we ignorant folk. It's in their interest to speak out, as many western figureheads finally do with Robertson when he goes off the deep end. (not that the West or Christianity have a perfect record by any means) Some Muslim leadship make a point of denoucing their nutballs, and that's great, but I wish we saw more of it. Whether the scarcity of denouncements is the fault of media or the leadership itself and politics I don't know.

Eventually, when survival becomes the question, it shouldn't be surprising for the masses to lose whatever refined reasoning and diplomacy skills they possess and resort to us-vs-them mentalities. It's happened throughout history, and if we aren't careful - if we don't set boundaries and just assume tolerance protests will take care of everything - this thing will get worse. As things get worse and people don't speak, to some extent it confirms the worst of fears in the healthy but fearful mind.

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195