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Originally Posted by hiredgun
Mojo_PeiPei: Sure. I'm originally from Pakistan, and I was raised in a very religious household. I'm clearly English-educated, of course, but I'm not even really important here. I know tons of Pakistanis who have never left Pakistan. I've never met one who didn't mourn 9/11, or who condones terrorism in general. Such people exist there, but generally not in the mainstream society. They represent an extreme. The same is true in Egypt, where I recently lived for a year. This is true even among those who would be called Islamists... those who espouse political Islam or push for the enforcement of Islamic law.
Again, let me reiterate that when I say that, I don't mean to entirely marginalize the problem. I acknowledge the problem. There is a problem with Islam in the world today, and it's a problem that Muslims will need to do much more to address. But to say that it's a problem somehow fundamental to Islam, that brutishness and violence somehow form the very essence of Islam, is in the realm of the absurd. It simply doesn't reflect the lived reality of over a billion people on this planet.
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Very well stated and I respect your honesty. However, I will have to take issue with you in regards to how moderate Muslims recognize the problem. If they do indeed recognize it, then they need to take the next step and come out en masse to denounce every act of violence done in the name of Islam. Anything short of that will be as if they have done nothing at all. Sorry, but I speak for a lot of Americans who feel enough time has been given for moderate Muslims to stpe up to the plate and stomp the extremism out of their own religion.