Muslims

 

September 2, 2016



With all the controversy over refugees, and the U.S. willingness to accept several thousand from Syria, it makes sense that we screen as well as possible to alleviate fears of terrorism that complicate the future.

According to statistics from The Week magazine, there are currently 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States, which makes Islam the third-largest faith. The population of Muslims is a diverse one, accounting for 10 percent of the country’s physicians and includes many who have distinguished themselves in other professions as well.

Since 911, Muslims have been viewed with suspicion, and terrorism associated with ISIS has been the work of extremists who are known to exist in the general population as well. We know that the internet age has contributed to radicalization, and terrorist groups have mastered the art of manipulation, using social media and video to lure personalities “kind of living on the edge,” says Andy Arena, a former FBI director.

While approximately 250 Americans have tried to join ISIS, that is far fewer than the thousands who have fled Syria and Iraq to pledge allegiance to that group.

The attraction: “money, wife and power,” according to Mohamed Mohamud, director of Minnesota’s Somali American Parents Association. “A young kid who doesn’t have enough mind to think, when he hears that, he goes.”

Will assimilation lead to acceptance? Only time will tell, but Islam is expected to overtake Judaism by 2050. Let’s not let fear, hate and misunderstanding spawn proposals of exclusion, expulsion or concentration.

 

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