The average muslim

To knock some common sense into the average American:

http://www.wedonthateyou.org/

Dear America...

Dear America... We don't hate you, and we don't hate your way of life.

This is quick note to clear up some confusion. It seems like lately one cannot watch the news, or read a newspaper without reading about the threat of "the Islamist agenda".

I am a Muslim, and the big agenda on my mind today was if i should get my wife an iPhone or an iPad for her birthday.

It may be hard to believe when you follow the news, but consider this:

• Today, hundreds of thousands more Muslim teenagers woke up worried about their teenage acne, than those who woke up pondering terrorism;
• Today, hundreds of thousands more men woke up pondering if if Liverpool would ever win the Premiership again, than did woke up pondering "the downfall of the west";
• Today, hundreds of thousands more muslims woke up and wanted the new iPhone 4, than did woke up wanting some sort of WMD.

We really are regular folk. We like walks on the beach, and pretty sunsets. We enjoy reading good books, drinking good coffee and the company of good friends. We hope that our kids graduate well, are well mannered and we sometimes don't call our moms back as soon as we should. Our moms feel proud when we do well, and they have hopes and dreams for us too. Our dads spend hours on the sports page and our kid sisters hit us up for money whenever they can.

For hundreds of years, we have been happily working side by side in society. We are builders, bankers, students, scientists, janitors, presidents and teachers. We still serve in militaries around the world and we are firemen and policemen and protect and serve. We sing the national anthems of our countries and blew Vuvuzelas when our countries played in the World Cup. We just happen to pray differently.

Sure we feel bad when cartoons insult our revered figures, but we feel even worse when it spurs violent (really un-Islamic) protests. There are more than a billion Muslims in the world today, and a veritable handful who react with violence. Surely you must see that this isn't representative of us all? We don't look at the Abu Ghraib fiasco and assume that all Americans torture people at the drop of a hat. Many of us still serve in the US Armed Forces!

There is a small group amongst the Muslims who are violent extremists, and there are a small group of hawks who need a new bogeyman. Let's not let them define the world for the rest of us.

The sad truth is that a bunch of guys burning cars is always more newsworthy than a bunch of guys handing in their TPS reports, but trust me, the latter happens many more times per hour by guys like me all over the world, just going about our business.. just like you..

/Average Muslim..