"Islamic Extremist is to Islamic. is to Christianity."
President George W. Bush inside the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. by Eric Draper used under CC BY
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The United States and Islam have never had a perfect relationship. For a country that claims to be 83% Christian, (ABC, 2015) this isn't very surprising. Islam and Christianity have clashed for hundreds of years despite how closely linked their origins are. Right now the United States finds itself in the predicament of how to defeat ISIS. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a jihadist extremist militant group focused on dividing the entire world between Muslims and everyone else.
With the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, many are wondering if the United States and the rest of the world are losing the fight against what once appeared as a small rebel group. There is no exact number of the population of practicing Muslims in the United States, however estimates are between 5 to 8 million. (ABC, 2015) |
"Islamic Extremist is to Islamic. KKK is to Christianity. " - The West Wing
Oil Well by Eric Knounce used under CC BY
What's the issue?What are the differences between the US and Islam? Also, the differences between the majority of Muslims and Jihadist Extremism.
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Paris at Night used under CC BY
Is there an answer?There is no easy solution for this problem. With the growth of ISIS and more terrorist attacks, who knows where US - Islamic relations will end up.
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Citations:
Islamic Missionary Activity. (2008, July 4). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_missionary_activity#/media/File:Islamic_Dawah_Center_Houston.JPG Citations:
Islam in the United States. (2001, September 17). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Bush_Islamic_Center_Washington.jpg
Islam in the United States. (2010, August 22). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Ground_Zero_Mosque_Supporters_4.jpg
Langer, G. (2015, July 18). Poll: Most Americans say they're Christian. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90356
Oil Well. (2008, August 22). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_well#/media/File:West_Texas_Pumpjack.JPG
Shepard4711. (2013, July 14). Paris at Night. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_at_night,_4_July_2013.jpg
Sorkin, A. (Writer). (2001, October 3). Issac and Ishmael [Television series episode]. In The West Wing. NBC.
Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang, Scott Keyes, and Faiz Shakir, "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America" (Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress, 2011), available at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/pdf/islamophobia.pdf
Citations:
Islamic Missionary Activity. (2008, July 4). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_missionary_activity#/media/File:Islamic_Dawah_Center_Houston.JPG Citations:
Islam in the United States. (2001, September 17). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Bush_Islamic_Center_Washington.jpg
Islam in the United States. (2010, August 22). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Ground_Zero_Mosque_Supporters_4.jpg
Langer, G. (2015, July 18). Poll: Most Americans say they're Christian. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90356
Oil Well. (2008, August 22). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_well#/media/File:West_Texas_Pumpjack.JPG
Shepard4711. (2013, July 14). Paris at Night. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_at_night,_4_July_2013.jpg
Sorkin, A. (Writer). (2001, October 3). Issac and Ishmael [Television series episode]. In The West Wing. NBC.
Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang, Scott Keyes, and Faiz Shakir, "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America" (Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress, 2011), available at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/pdf/islamophobia.pdf