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Islam in America

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Bossier City, LA: Do you think the reason that 60% of the young Muslims consider themselves "Muslim first" is that, unlike older generations, they are spoiled by the American way of life and did not have to work hard and start from nothing?

Lisa Miller: no, i don't think they're any more spoiled than second and third generation jews or catholics or any other immigrant group. i think, from their perspective, 9/11 required them to wear their muslim identity like a banner. they could no longer blend in, as immigrant groups in the past had done.

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Toronto, Ontario: What's the difference between an extremist muslim that believes in this radical definition of Jihad and more temperate Muslims. Are they from different 'denominations,' or are these people one in the same?

Lisa Miller: one of the most interesting aspects of our reporting last week was this: there is no "structure" in islam analagous to structures in american christianity (either catholicism or protestant denominations) or judaism. there's no central office, no agreed-upon heirarchy, no organizational chart. so there are no "denominations," per se. there is, however, a wide range of beliefs that can be seen as analagous to "fundamentalist" and "progressive" in christian or jewish circles. there are people who believe in strict, literal interpretation of the quran, and people who believe that modernity requires a more nuanced or metaphorical interpretation and everything in between.

Salem, OR: Muslims do not even think like Americans. Why should we believe that a Muslim senator could be an asset, to our country or our news coverage?

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Posted By: esinn @ 11/10/2008 3:44:33 PM

i congrulate Lisa Miller, she really has understood musl??ms although she isn't. A Musl??m can't k??ll anyone. If he does, he can not be a Muslim. There isn't anything like that in Quran. It isn't jihad. i recommend you to read Quran before deciding about Muslim. also we are sorry about that they say 'islamic terrorism'. islam is reflecled as terrorisim activity but it isn't. There is tolerant in it.
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Posted By: swienke @ 11/10/2008 2:37:31 AM

I think the problem lies in the fact that the most puritanical Muslims are also the loudest in terms of expressing their viewpoint. Although many Islamic moderates have attempted to convey their views to the public, the extremists are able to do so in a much more sensationalist and shocking manner. The press is always drawn to the most lurid stories it can find, and the moderates just aren't all that exciting, meaning that they get pushed to the side in favor of the flash-bang words and actions of the extremists.
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Posted By: Siasat @ 11/08/2008 7:08:20 PM

Mr.Krohn,
Senator Obama was a professor of american constitution at Harvard and a highly accomplishedand brilliant academician,he was not elected because Media or somebody feeling guilty or because of his Race..
American democracy is Very much alive and Vibrant.Americans have voted for Republican candidates,Smart or Dumb and also voted the same way for Democratic Party.There is no Affirmative action in American democracy.At the same time Presidency is not entitled for only a certain group of ethnicity in the past or in the future.May the best candidate win in future elections irrespective of the color of their Eyes,Hair or Skin.