Listen to the video from 5.56. Micheal Steel.
The key point to this is that all people are ambassadors. Whether your a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Confucian, Tao, Buddhist, or Atheist.
Your actions are the first impressions people have of not just you but your unconscious ego.
I've faced this constantly. Had to prove myself a "Patriotic American" who's a Muslim. But its the actions that you do prove to everyone this guy has my back.
Very good, sir. Too bad most on this forum do not take that to heart when debating divisive issues like religions.
The thing is this. The Media is bias. They're going to cover the fundamentalist rather than the reformers.
But how does this square with your previous (and true) comment that actions are more attention grabbing than words ? Since (not if) the fundamentalists have been much move vocal, active, and willing to put themselves, not just their beliefs, into the fore, much more so than reformers, how else can you expect the media talking heads to do their jobs ? Calling the media 'bias' ignores this problem.
A group does not define the whole.
I disagree. Take the Vatican, for example. What the Pope and his clique says about Catholics -- defines Catholicism and by extension, the world can look at one group and can reasonably attributes certain characteristics the group's beliefs and actions to be representative of the whole.
Granted, Catholics and assorted Christian sects do consent to these minority groups to speak for and to represent the sects, but if polls among the Muslims are any trending indicators, it looks like there are enough supporters of Islamic fundamentalism and more extreme Islamic fundamentalism to warrant caution for observers
NOT to assume reformers have any relevance
INSIDE the ME. Outside the ME ? Great, there are enough reformers to credibly challenge the fundamentalists mano-a-mano on any day on any channel. Inside the ME ? Reformers are either dead or on the way there.
Are Americans superficial? Yes.
No more than any other peoples.
