SamSaid!

THE MUSLIMS

     Recently, a prominent magazine featured a story about muslims in the USA and estimated the total population to be between 2million and 7 million. That's a pretty wide range for an estimate. Somwhat unnerving when we think about the millions of people in the US who are invisible. Who are they and where are they? Just imagine the outcry if a demographic study estimated the total population of the USA at 200 million to 700 million  (at last count).

    The aforementioned article also said that the two fastest growing religions in America are the Mormons and the Muslims. Personally, I don't have any doubts about the Mormons  –  I think they are as patriotic and maybe moreso than most Americans. But I don't have the same feeling of comfort about the Muslims. I guess they fall into 2 categories  –  Americans who follow the Muslim faith, and Muslims who happen to be living in America. Big difference. Certainly all Muslims cannot be categorized into the same camp as the Palestinian flag burners or the “Murder for Allah” extremists, but regarding the War on Terrorism I don't see much evidence of them coming forward saying “We're with you George, let's go get 'em”.

      For the older generation, the experiences of WWII are instructive. Before and during the war, the Japanese, Blacks and Indians were shabbily treated (maybe an understatement), but that didn't prevent legions of them from serving with distinction in the US Armed Forces.      NOTE:  I don't have much use for the term Native American. Nonsense, we all came from somewhere else  –  just a matter of when.

      Nowdays, the biggest thing coming from the US Muslims is silence. It is almost as though they are saying (whispering?) “Hey guys, this is your war, not ours. We'd like to sit this one out”. Not a good sign.