PC Hogwash

Okay. Heard on NPR today that certain police chiefs in the UK are saying that airport security needs to be targeted, but that some top Muslim cop says that would be a bad idea because it would alienate the people we need to help combat terrorism.

I'm sorry, but I'm just a little over this nonsense.

The 19 Sept. 11 highjackers: Muslim men.

The London bombers: Muslim men.

The London liquid bombers: Muslim men.

The Spanish bombers: Muslim men.

The USS Cole bombers: Muslim men.

The Bali bombers: Muslim men.

Does anyone else see a pattern here?

But still at the airport we see the nonsense of old ladies having to take off their shoes, mothers with two babies having to take a sip of their baby formula, professional men and women not being permitted their laptops, teenagers being denied their iPods, all so we can maintain the fiction that everyone's a potential terrorist, not just the people who are.

The last time I saw someone blow up a plane in the name of the United Church of Canada, or some fanatic demanding strict adherence to the Thirty Nine Articles of Faith on pain of death (don't be celibate (article 32) or die!!!), or demanding that diapers be put on goats or the shepherd gets his throat cut was . . . well . . . NEVER (even though violating sheep is a real danger in Wales). Sure, during the Inquisition the Church did a lot of nasty things, but we're a bit beyond that in the 21st century now.

And every time some muslim blows something up or tries to blow something up, we get the usual PC hogwash--civic leaders saying it's important not to overreact, various muslim leaders equivocating ("Islam is a religion of peace, but we have to understand that . . ."), the police saying that no, there is no collective guilt.

Bullshit. Let's take some collective responsibility, folks. Next time, rather than ever Imam making some half-baked statement, let's get every last one standing up and saying "No." Let's get EVERY muslim civic leader not just condemning, but going out actively and doing something about it. Not the "Well, we have to understand that when a people are oppressed or degraded . . ."

The first thing it seems muslim leaders do is DISTANCE themselves from terrorists. How about the Germans? There's still a massive sense of collective guilt for things that their grandparents did. I went to high school in Germany and the faults of their forefathers are drilled into their heads, year after year. The Germans take responsibility for the horrors in which their ancestors were shareholders.

Not so the Muslim world. Bombers are always outcasts, they don't represent Islam, we aren't collectively responsible.

I say, no more. I'm over the fact that our governments spaces are now closed to the public because of a few MUSLIM terrorists. I'm over the fact that I have to submit to a ridiculous search at an airport, because of a few MUSLIM terrorists. I'm over the fact that our entire national dialogue has been hijacked by the right thanks to a few MUSLIM terrorists.

If Islam really is a religion of peace, let Muslims help themselves. And meanwhile, let's quit the fallacy that everyone is a possible terrorist. Because really, my 85-year old grandmother isn't. That 2 year old child isn't. The businessman and CEO isn't. My high-school principal mother isn't.

Let's drop the PCism and actually target those who are a real danger.