Another good read!

[greg334]

But that's what we do now, and it's what needs to change.

No not really, we don't tie the two together because our political system is separate from our culture. If we presented a strong front, say for a Palestinian country without Hamas, on both the political front and within the culture of our country, then the message would be clear and without the political comprimising that makes us weak in their eyes.

Clearly, I failed to properly convey what I meant, as you took the exact opposite to be my views.

I think it was me too. Sorry.

[Turtle]

No not really, we don't tie the two together because our political system is separate from our culture. If we presented a strong front, say for a Palestinian country without Hamas, on both the political front and within the culture of our country, then the message would be clear and without the political comprimising that makes us weak in their eyes.

That's exactly what I'm saying, actually. Basically, if Christians and Jews and Muslims can live together in peace on the same cul de sac, or certainly together in adjoining neighborhoods, then our political system should be able to recognize why that is and then apply it to foreign policy. But too often pur foreign policy has its own agenda and doesn't take the American people into account.

The example you give here is a really good one, as I think most Americans and the government agree that a Hamas-free Palestine would be better than the alternative. The question, and the key, is how to go about it. If we rally up and go after Hamas, most Muslims will take that as an attack on Islam, and will push those off the fence. If instead we embrace Islam, then Islam will, for the most part, take care of Hamas for us.

But like I said before, unwavering boundaries must be set up front. They cannot change based on some political compromise, because that's giving in, that's the weakness that everyone talks about, and when you give in, give them that inch, then they think they own the mile.

Even culturally there can't be any compromise. Like, schools and business making special accommodations for prayer rooms, which is something we don't do in this culture. Once we do it, it becomes expected, and when it becomes the law of the land, they'll thnk they own the land. If they have to set aside certain times of the day to pray, then they need to make arrangements to have a job (or schedule classes) that doesn't conflict with that. They need to be the ones to accommodate their lifestyle to the culture, not the other way around.

[greg334]

If we rally up and go after Hamas, most Muslims will take that as an attack on Islam, and will push those off the fence. If instead we embrace Islam, then Islam will, for the most part, take care of Hamas for us.

Well I know what you were driving at but I couldn't put my finger on it until I typed it out.

Now the problem with this is that it won't happen. Hamas is like Carter and his group, they are bad evil people, they are destructive to the country but they help just the right people at the right time and then look good in the eyes of their supporters enough that their supporters will fight for them. The Muslims won't kick them out unless they attack other Muslims and that won't happen openly.

Now the real problem we face is not the accommodations themselves but the political motivation in not accommodating others equally. Pray rooms in public school (Ford HS here in Dearborn I think has a couple of them), is allowed but pray in school by a Christian is not. It is not the Muslim who protests to get the pray room but the administrator who fears them which is the real problem. The exception to all of this is Minnesota where their politics is strictly run by Somalis and some parts of Maine are getting like that now.