I do not know how you could equate Osama bin Laden, with Jerry Falwell, or pro life protesters. Your comparison stretches reality, which shows you argument is hollow at best. The next time a Rabbi, Priest, Minister, or Jerry Falwell orders the Highjacking of an Aircraft, a suicide bombing, or bombing of an embassy or Temple we'll condemn them. TOM -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Nick Laflamme Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 1:51 PM To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU Subject: TAN: What goes around could come around If a mosque or Islamic cultural center is ever bombed or shot up, many posters to this list might be in trouble. "Look at these postings," the relatives of any victims might shout, "this list is full of people who hate our peaceful religion, people who believe that a few violent extremists are representative of our faith. "Look at how they wanted to deny us our human rights. Look how the put quote-marks around the word 'person' in describing these extremists of our faith, as if members of our faith must somehow not really be human. Look at how they see a bogeyman around every corner, trying to link an airport shooting in Los Angeles to the crash of an airliner off the East Coast three years earlier. Look how quickly they trust any page on the World Wide Web, seemingly because it's well formatted and sounds authoritative." I'm sure none of you are as violent as you believe these extremists to be. Just because you think all of your nominal enemies want to kill you doesn't mean you want to kill them. So what if you want to arm everyone with handguns "for our protection"; I'm sure that doesn't mean you would wish the use of deadly force against people just because of their religion or national origins. But if others are as quick to grasp at tenuous connections as some of the sources you quote, you, too, might be seen as a part of a vast Zionist conspiracy, a conspiracy that parallels the Christian crusades against this same faith a millennium ago. I'm sure you can convince yourself that, "this is different; we're not like that." But to the outsiders who don't start by assuming your good will, the picture you paint frightens others just as much as you are frightened by what you see when you look at them. I believe many of you are scared of what you don't know from first-hand experience. You know of the vocal, militant extremists. Do you know other followers of that same religion or from those same countries who aren't nearly as militant or ready to threaten violence? When you think of Osama bin Laden and the Palestinian suicide bombers, think also about US Christian pro-life extremists, those who shoot abortion providers in the name of Christ. Think about Jerry Falwell and some of his spontaneous judgements on the rest of the world, when he sounds so intolerant. Are these extremists like all the Christians you meet in your daily life? They may be like many Christians you meet in your daily life, but they're not like all Christians I meet in my daily life. Beware of broad strokes of judgement and of finding vast conspiracies behind every event. Those same strokes and findings could apply to us as well. Peace, Nick