You were saying that its funny how the mainstream media does not pickup on things like this but u have to understand that there are worse thing happening to Muslims all over the world. You never hear about it because the government always covers it up.

I can see that u have a bad perspective of Muslims and Islam but you have only based you’re opinion on acts committed by so called “Muslims”. Believe me when I say that Islam did not encourage violent acts like this.

What I think you should do is go study and research the Islamic religion and I guarantee when you see the true side of Islam all your views about Islam will change from negative to positive.

It was interesting; we traded stories (why Muslims pray five times per day versus why Jews pray three times (plus two “Shema’s”)), why 10 is a quorum for Jewish prayer, etc. I tried to keep them all on the right translation pages when the meal concluded with a full Birkat. I elected not to take the bait when our Muslim table guest praised the movie Munich.

The Imam who spoke to us after dinner was not the one who leads the congregation that had joined us; instead, it was this Syrian-born, Baltimore-based fellow who is quite articulate, active in interfaith activities, and travels for the State Department to give talks on Islam in America. He invoked a verse from the Quran (22:40, I think) for the proposition that Islam recognizes that God is worshipped in cathedrals, churches, and synagogues as well as in mosques, and that those who would tear down any of these must be opposed. So he would ascribe the plight of Christians in today’s Middle East to “ignorance,” a word that he used quite often during the evening.

Most of the after-speech questions from the congregation were softballs. But when I followed up someone else’s question on Sunni, Shi’a, and Sufi Islam with one on the Alawites (seeing as how this gentleman was from Syria), he responded by ticking off a number of offshoots of Islam, including Druze, Baha’i, and Ammadiya, and suggesting that all of these sects had gone astray by isolating themselves from the larger community. Tolerance has its limits, it seems; the moderate Imam Bashar Arafat acknowledges all of the prophets mentioned in the Quran, up to and including the final Messenger, but my impression was that, like any orthodox Muslim, that is where he draws the line.

I expect that practically none of the Western media will give a rat’s patootie about persecution of Christians. This has been going on a long time and shows no signs of stopping. In fact it is increasing as Islamist radicalism grows. But mostly the media will ignore it just as they underplay stories about persecution of Christians and other religious people in China by Commies. Basically they are not religious themselves, don’t know anybody who is, and consider such persecution no scales off their sitzplatz. They lack the wit, imagination, and empathy to consider it important enough to cover.

In the 16th Century I would undoubtedly have rooted for the Ottomans over the Habsburgs, on the basis of greater Turkish toleration of Jews. But today there is a better tolerance in the West, among Christians, than among Muslims, even for Muslims themselves.

Muslim tolerance means that if dhimmis know their place, pay their extortionate poll taxes without protest, walk softly and humbly, be unobtrusive in their religious activities, and endure any humiliations the Muslims wish to inflict on them without response they can most of the time live reasonably peacefully (except on occasions when frothing-at-the-mouth imams incite a pogrom). Come to think of it, that’s pretty much the way blacks had to live under Jim Crow, now isn’t it? Today we have higher standards for religious toleration.

Meryl, do be sure to keep your readers posted on the PCUSA’s forthcoming strong response to this. The Episcopalian Church also holds Israel to high standards. I’m sure they’ll be mightily displeased when they hear how Christians are being treated in Egypt.

“When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.” –John Bogart

That is why the media ignores the story of Muslims persecuting Xians.

I apologize to the canine species if any of them are insulted by the comparison.