When you see women in burkas at the mall, do you feel your sphincter tighten, just a bit?
When you pass a guy on the street in a turban do you just for a second think, whoa what's he up to?
If you are on a plane and a man with a traditional muslim beard and maybe a kurfi (the small cap) walk on the plane and sits in first class do you start to flash back, even momentarily, to the news reports of the 9/11 attacks?
If you answered yes to any one of these, I think its safe to say you are scared of Muslims.
If you answered no, you're either Muslim, you're medicated or you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years.
In either case, I think as Americans and Europeans we have some justifications to our fear, but I don't know if it should be as intense or as overarching as it seems to be. Truly there are some scary muslims that do and say really horrifying shit.
How do I know this? They're all over the media dummy. The media has done an excellent job of painting Islam as murderous and Muslims as radicals.
Which makes the story about NPR's Juan Williams sacking seem a bit strange. NPR fired Juan Williams after he admitted that he gets nervous if he's on a plane and someone with a traditional muslim appearance comes on the plane.
