“Somehow, over the course of the past 9 years, people’s pro-American, pro-Israel stance has morphed into an anti-Muslim, anti-Islam one.”

Although the two are related, they are not the same issue. It is possible to support Israel (and, by extension, the Jewish people) without being anti-Muslim or anti-Islam, and without being prejudiced against Muslims or Islam in the US. There is a real problem, on the other hand, that is genuine and should not be ignored except at our own peril. Namely, there are many in the Islamic world who hate Jews, Israel, the United States and the west in general, and who would stop at nothing to destroy all of them. Their fight against Israel is mostly based on their own religious prejudices and their hatred of the west is primarily religious or ideological in nature as well. They want to destroy us, and in the case of the Jews, kill us. This is not mere paranoia, it can be found in the Arabic and Muslim press every day of the week. Not serious when they say “Death to America, Death to Israel”? Just kidding? I’m not waiting to find out.

So, we must all balance our responsibility for justice to our Muslim fellow citizens with our defense against a political, ideological and religious force that genuinely means to do us harm. While this appears self-evident, it is not always so easy in real life. We don’t want “racial profiling” to screen for terrorists on our airline flights, but we all want to be safe. We don’t want to discriminate against any religions concerning where they build their houses of worship, but the arguments against the Cordoba project being built in its planned location should not be dismissed so carelessly. Fortunately, we have laws, a free press, a civil society and police who we can expect to protect us rather than prey upon us, still not the case everywhere around the world. We can discuss these issues (and should), with blogs (like this one) being a great place to do so. Hopefully we will come, as a free society, to the correct solution, or at least the best solution, after reasoned discussion.

But, no, my pro-American, pro-Israel stance has not morphed into an anti-Muslim, anti-Islam one. On the other hand, we cannot afford to be blind to history and to the realities we face. The information we need to make sound judgments is everywhere to be found, thanks to the internet in particular, the rest is up to us.

…Pacem in Terris, Mir, Shanti, Salaam, Hey Wa. Thank you Pete.