The "not all Muslims are terrorists" fallacy

[TheRocketSurgeon]

I find myself conflicted on this whole Islam thing. 

Napo made some very valid points, but I see your side as well, Surgeon. I hate Isis. HATE them. And I feel bad about hating them because I'm not supposed to, but I just do. The amount of hate I feel for these people is something I've struggled with for the past couple of years, and it doesn't help that my husband is in the military. I hate radical Islamists, and I hate the underlying misogyny in even the Americanized Muslims, and I HATE that more of them aren't lobbying and marching down the streets, calling for their people in the Middle East to stop the violence. I hate that my Muslims friend complains more about Fox News making Islam look bad, than he does about freaking Isis making Islam look bad! But at the same time, he is one of my best friends, and I love him, and I know that he and his muslim friends and family are good people who shouldn't be looked down on or treated as anything other than good decent people. I don't want anyone to take out their anger for Isis on these good people.

I don't feel conflicted about it at all. I loathe ISIS with every fiber of my being. I think they are on par with the worst humans that have ever existed. Ever. They murder and rape and steal and destroy, all in the name of forcing their views on others. If a Hellfire missile lands on each of their heads in the next minute, I will shed exactly zero tears for their passing.

I loathe the tenets of the religious tradition which devalues women, which teaches that it's okay to treat people of other faiths differently, and/or which attacks reason, freedom, and the ability to attain knowledge which conflicts with their ideologies. (I mean Christianity, of course...I also think Islam is really bad in this respect. Hehe.)

Fundamentalism, in every stripe in which it exists, is anathema to humanity, whether it is in the name of Maoist/Leninist communism or nationalist jingoism or religion. It's one of the reasons that maintaining "the wall of separation of church and state" is so important, for those who would tear it down to see their own beliefs enshrined in law are indistinguishable from the other groups they claim to hate for doing the same thing in other locations where the other group has local superiority in numbers, except in small details. Most people of faith in the secularist nations, regardless of their specific religion, do understand why religion must be kept as a private thing, and I often point out to people that the president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a preacher, Reverend Barry Lynn of the United Church of Christ.

I too would feel a lot better about Islam if we saw more of them saying "hey what the fuck?" when their leadership teaches them the insane things that seem to be part of Muslim culture in general, and I'd love to see them arguing against that as much as they denounce the poor way they are represented in the media and by bigots. But sadly, that's not the way most people work. Even here, there's often a silence in the face of bigotry when our fellow atheists unfairly attack and/or broad-brush paint people of faith, though it's no less unfair when it happens here than when it happens anywhere else.

We are a species that has evolved into tribal social animals, with a strong instinct toward xenophobia, hating/fearing and often falsely stereotyping the Others Who are the Enemy™. To my shame, I have occasionally stood silent when I see fellow atheists unfairly stepping over that line, out of a sense of community, even though it is not a part of our community's overall philosophy (what little there is of such) to squash dissent or to respect poor opinions even from one another (as you can see in this thread!). I know from my religious societal experience that they do actively teach that sense of "Us versus Them", and that the pressure to conform can be fierce, even when you see "your" group doing wrong. That's why I brought up the good cops staying silent in the face of police corruption cultural issue. I think it works the same way.