This is simply brilliant – in Florida, the local chapter of CAIR has placed ads on public buses inviting ordinary citizens to “dial a muslim” and get connected to fellow muslim citizens. The idea is to simply make connections at a personal level.
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Brilliant?
I think it is one of the oddest ideas I have ever heard…. it sounds like something right out of The Onion.
(or did I completely miss Aziz’s sarcasm?)
Sounds like a great idea to me. Anything that fosters communication is ok by me.
why do you think its odd? if you have concerns a bout Islam, and are wary of muslims thanks to the never ending parade of horror on the TV, then you might want to actually talk to a muslim and find out what its all about. the reason i love this is because it treats everyone – ordinary citizens, muslims and non muslims alike – as intelligent and reasonable people, extending everyone the benefit of te doubt. OK, some people might call up and just rant at teh poor muslim on the phone, but how often is that really going to occur?
I guess I just have a hard time imagining those that believe all Muslims are terrorists, etc are going to just call them on the phone from a number they got off the side of a bus and basically say, "ok Mr. Muslim, I think that turban is hiding a suicide bomb, but I will give you a chance to pursuade and enlighten me that you are actually a human being too.Â
And no Jedi Mind tricks either!"
I just don’t get what I would learn by calling a particular Muslim and asking them questions… I mean I might learn something about them personally, but am I to apply what I learn about them to every Muslim? Isn’t that what we are trying to fight here?Â
Also, seems to me that anyone who is wary of Muslims is unlikely to call them up and ask the person they are suspiscious of if those suspiciouns are warranted. Â
i dont think that people of such strong prejudice against Islam will call either, but I think there is a large middle ground where people arent predisposed against muslims, but just are wary and concerned. Thats probably te majority (I categorically refuse the argument by some paranoiacs that everyone is a latent islamophobe). Such people will call – I know that, because as the story says, they have been calling.
It’s interesting that CAIR is pretending to represent American Muslims.
CAIR lost 90% of its membership support after the 9/11 attacks. Apparently, the majority of former donors did not believe that CAIR represented them. If it wasn’t for profuse infusions of Saudi money, CAIR probably would have folded by now.
It’s also interesting to note that, if any organization could be blamed for creating a hostile attitude towards Muslims in general, it’s the terror supporters and bloviating identity politics lobbyists of CAIR.
Maybe that’s what their Saudi donors want. When Islamophobes are blaming the local halal chicken guy and "Islam" for terrorism, it does take the heat off of the real terror supporters in the KSA.
Aziz is right. You only waste your breath trying to talk extremists down from their perches, whether they’re Taleban or Islamophobes.
Spend your time, money, and effort on the fence-sitters, the ones who haven’t decided which way they’re going to go.
The zealots are lost to their cause, or at least the way they interpret that cause in the own minds.
John_B’s last blog post..Echoes of 9/11
Now if we could just get that Dial A Jew program going in Egypt…
I like it. At least they are trying SOMETHING.
 I can’t imagine how it will be very effective, but who knows?
 So A+ for effort, and thinking outside the box.
Dave, that sounds like you are positing equivalence between the status oif Jews in Egypt and muslims in the US.
last I checked, American muslims haven’t been implicated in anything like the Lavon Affair, so overall it’s safe to say that Jews have it far worse in Egypt than muslims do in the US.
You’ll never get the hard core to back down, if nothing else because once they believe the "taqiyya" smear (Taqiyya!) then there’s just no hope left. But I really think people that far gone are not anything close to the majority, and they’re unlikely to call in the first place.
No, it’ll be people who are genuinely curious and concerned, just like Aziz says.
As cool as that idea is, you know some drunk racist will get the smart idea to call and spew obscenities. On the other hand you can always hang up…
I’ve worked answering telephones too long and eventually there’s always going to be some knucklehead.
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