Why do Atheists defend Islam?

[KevinM1]

And why shouldn't he? Do you remember anyone asking christians if they agreed with Brejvik, although he claimed to act as a christian warrior? Do your recall anyone asking christians if they agree with abortion clinic attacks? These questions are reserved for muslims and so he's rightfully outraged. Why should they be asked to distance themselves when the same question isn't asked in case of christian or jewish nutters?

It's a double standard, plain and simple.

Why did they even ask, is a very valid question.

Because Christians are the majority here in the US, Abaris. We KNOW that killing innocent people is not Christian teaching. But there may be people here who don't know anything about Islam except for what they see on the news about them constantly blowing people up. So I see nothing with CNN having a Muslim on there to clarify to all the more ignorant people that, no, they are not all in support of that type of action.

On the flip side, can't you see how your friend can get frustrated with everyone looking at him, or other non-radicalized Muslims, as spokespeople for the entire religion and culture?

Like, I'm disabled.  But I'm not the spokesperson for people in wheelchairs.  And whenever someone (well meaning or not) starts to treat me as a representative for other disabled people, I get pretty uncomfortable.  Because it's not my job to explain the actions and mentality of others who happen to share similar physical restrictions as me, I don't represent the totality of what living in a wheelchair encompasses, and I'd really rather be seen as a person instead of some sort of living symbol for a particular group of people.

Basically, CNN and other news agencies asking some random Muslim on the street "Do you approve of ISIS?" are engaging in the lowest form of 'journalism' because they're trying to make a lone individual account for all of the flaws in their culture and/or religion, flaws which they may be well aware of (not that CNN or any of the others would be interested in that).

Moreover, those kinds of targeted questions only serve to deepen the Us vs. Them mentality.  The moment you start treating a group of people as some exotic, unknowable Other is the moment you can strip away their humanity and treat them merely as obstacles to remove.  We cannot afford to fall into the trap of looking at Muslims in general as people we will never be able to understand, and ISIS in particular as monsters.  Because that strips away our ability to find common ground, which is necessary for peace.

The problem we're facing is one of ideology.  And while we certainly must kill as many ISIS as possible (and anyone else along those lines), we also must be aware of what makes people become radicalized and attempt to fight it.  Because radicalization is the symptom of larger, deeper problems, including but not limited to:

Poverty
Lack of education
Lack of opportunity
Religious fundamentalism
Remnants of sectarian conflict
Mental illness
etc.

Killing the people with the guns, bombs, and plans should be seen as merely the first step.  Otherwise, we'll just be embroiled in this kind of thing for generations, likely with it getting worse.