The first is Michael "Kramer" Richards' now infamous outburst at the comedy club. A better man than I might look for the larger implications here, like how in the 21st century a man so prominent or at least famous could be so racist and stupid. I would suggest that what we saw here happens at traffic lights and other places of inconvenient interaction all the time. This doesn't excuse Richards' behavior one iota, I just think it's more common than many would like to believe. As for Richards, I don't think he has a hooded sheet in his closet, he's just a garden variety asshole. Unfortunatly he's not alone.
The second episode occurred when six Imams where removed from a Phoenix bound US Air flight in Minneapolis because they were seen behaving "oddly" prior to the flight. Details are, of course, sketchy but apparently the odd behavior was the Imams conducting their evening prayers on the flight.
Three of them stood and said their normal evening prayers together on the plane, as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to ignorance about Islam.
While I hope that everyone in this instance was treated with respect and dignity, CAIR and Muslims throughout the world should recognize how people in the US might be a little wary about groups of Muslim men standing and praying in unison on a plane. Regrettable as this instance is, to do otherwise at this point would be ill-advised.
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As much as I feel inconvenienced, or even insulted, by being extensively searched before I board a plane with my wife and child (all of us professed, if you will, non-terrorists, and extremely opposed to even the most justifiable of death penalty sentences), I am happy to comply because I feel such searches keeps the most basic kinds of wackos from blowing up the plane I am on -- so too, Muslims flying in the West should feel reassured when security measures are in place which, at another time, might be forbidden precisely as being an unjust interference with the 1st amendment rights of citizens. These rights are not absolute, but rather implicitly universal and conditionally secure. Until a majority of Muslims vocally & publically portray their religion as peaceful, people of the West (opr at least N. America) will always remain nervous about ANY gathering of young, Muslim males in public areas. And this fact is truly a shame, as I believe it admirable when, say, Orthodox Jews, or traditional Muslims, or practicing Christians observe their faith in public.
Mark Steyn actually predicts a possible rise of neo-fascism in W. Europe precisely because Western Europeans have bartered away their moral and political authority in teh name of sensitivity.
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