Hold up! I was not trying to jump on you. That was not my objective at all. I would have sent you a personal email if that was my intention. As you were saying, "I do not think most Americans equate Islam with violence", I was merely stating, "I think they do." I apologize if I made you feel that way but that was not my intention in the least, nor my style. Also, we have to consider that we are communicating via email so you, nor I, get all the non-verbal elements, such as tone of voice to help us clarify communication. Again, I was not trying to jump on you but rather, state my own view. Although I was happy to hear the President state that Islam is a religion of peace and that there should be no backlash against any muslim, I also realize that this is a person who probably does not know too much about Islam, like alot of Americans, so I don't know if I really feel that he is the one that I want to truly "get the beauty of Islam" from. Hamza Yusuf's appearance there is significant! Everything is when you are presenting something to the public, from the mannerism in which you speak, to the very shoes on your feet. The hungry media is watching all! To me, his presence there, it meant they were getting advice from an Islamic scholar so, that they would not say something inappropriate or at least gain some basic knowledge of the religion. Muslims vote as well. If everyone was of the common understanding that this had nothing to do with Islam and strictly political in nature, why would it come up? Why, because there is alot of ignorance out there regarding the religion. PERIOD! The speeches, although they have their place, do not mean a thing to me when I see billion of dollars pouring out like water with the goal of severing terriorism when that very money could actually be used to educate people, pull them out of poverty, and get us really going somewhere! I see oppressing people, when the religion teaches peace and love, as rather violent in nature. Yus, if you still feel I am jumping on you or I am not understanding you, please send me a personal email so we can discuss further without having to disturb others. Just so you know, my parent's named me Christine and I became muslim and would prefer you call me Halima, despite the name on my email address. Thanks ahead of time -----Original Message----- From: Y C Jow [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 11:19 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Interesting article by John Pilger. Christina: Please try to understand what I meant by the comments you highlighted before jumping all over me. I said, " I do not think most Americans equate Islam with violence." This IMO does not preclude that their are pockets out there who have differing opinions. This is to be expected. On Bush's speech, of course it was political in nature. As far as I am concerned, any speech made by any leader in parliament is political. The point is that Bush used the most important address to the Nation since Rooslevelt's declaration of war on Germany & Japan during WWII to extol the beauty of Islam, as well as explain to the people that this beef was not against Islam. This not even to mention the number of times he made the same pt in interviews with the press etc. So what if Imam Hamza Yusuf was there, or Bush didn't write it? Do you intend to tell me that because Bush didn't write the speech, he and his administration had no input into its content? I have heard some talk of how the religion oppresses women but not much about it encouraging violence towards women. But then again, I have never been to small town Wisconsin <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>