Idiots

Oh, dear.

Whenever I hear about a misguided idiot such as the Nigerian who boarded a plane and decided to become a terrorist yesterday, my initial thought is, “Please don’t be a Muslim.”

My mom, who is visiting, heard the news and said, “He’s Nigerian? Well, thank God he’s not an Arab.”

This is the type of conversation that takes place in our home whenever terrorism rears its ugly head: we stupidly offer thanks if the murder is not a Muslim or a Middle Easterner.

I don’t think other Americans talk the way we do at times like this. I’m sure when Americans hear the news their first thought is, “Thank God no one got hurt.” (We think that, too, by the way.) Or, perhaps, “Typical. Another Muslim terrorist.” (Again, we think that, too.)

We also see a different picture in our home. We see how the act of a few idiots will affect our children’s lives. We see how a couple of unethical and immoral jerks have convinced a few moronic sheep to follow them to ruin our culture and belief. We also see the worst: we see ourselves being slowly alienated from our country and community.

And we hate it.

Any time someone decides to take my family’s religion and deface it I will post on this blog. I do this because I always hear other Americans say, “Why don’t the moderate Muslims speak out?”

We do. To prove my point, here’s what other moderate Muslims have published (but I am sure media outlets have not released): Click here and click here to read more.

As a side note - and just to show we aren't all idiots - Arab Americans have been living in the United States for decades (centuries, even) but most of you probably didn't even know how many famous folks were actually Arab American. For a list of who's who, please click here. You'll be very surprised to know some American celebrities are actually Arab American. (Danny and Marlo Thomas, Casey Kasem, Paula Abdul, Doug Flutie, Ralph Nader, Paul Anka and Jamie Farr to name a few.)