The Wages of Fear 0
Trudy Rubin, writing at the Philadelphia Inquirer, argues against those who monger the fear of Muslims. A nugget:
Yet it is vital that Americans distinguish between the real threat – radical Islamic groups and movements in many Muslim countries – and the hyped-up threat promoted here.
For one thing, the fearmongering helps radical Islamists. Gen. David Petraeus just warned that videos of Quran burning could endanger our troops overseas. What would be even more dangerous is if the Islamaphobes provoke a war of civilizations within the United States – the very outcome the jihadists seek.
We are a nation of immigrants, in which Muslims of Arab, South Asian, and African descent have flourished. This is why Muslims in America are so well-integrated, unlike in Europe, where many Muslim immigrants have failed to assimilate.
The right-wing’s politics of hate has nothing to do with security and everything to do with fomenting fear, for they know that fear clouds thought and that thought is inimical to their cause.
