Muslims Continue to be Loyal Citizens

To hear the right wingers tell it every Muslim alive is a probable terrorist and we have to watch their every move and shoot on sight if they get out of line. The basic premise of the right wing has been that because the 9/11 terrorists were Muslims, Muslims are to be considered terrorists unless proven otherwise. Interesting that they don't apply the same "logic" to white males like Timothy McVeigh, but in their small minds they don't like and don't trust Muslims, leading to a whole slew of racist and hate-filled remarks (e.g. like many statements from Republican Embarrassment Steve King as well as lots of the rhetoric from the McCain/Palin supporters).

What gets lost in the racist rhetoric is a fact that almost every New Yorker is well aware of: the vast majority of Muslims are perfectly loyal, decent citizens.

In 2007 a survey of American Muslims showed that they were among the most hard-working and loyal of Americans and actually had far more faith in the American Dream than the average American.

The same now seems to apply to Muslims in Britain, Germany and (to a lesser degree) France. From BBC News:

European Muslims have much more loyalty to the countries they live in than is generally believed, a survey says.

The report by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation says 77% of British Muslims identified with the UK, compared with 50% of the general public...

In Germany, 40% of Muslims identified with the country against 32% of the wider public...

In France, 52% of Muslims identified with the country, compared with 55% of the general public.

Seems being Muslim and being a loyal citizen often go hand in hand. This fact probably won't stop the right wing extremists from their hate mongering, but I am reminded of the constant slur on Jews that because of their religion they can't be loyal citizens. This slur goes back to at least ancient Rome and still comes up from time to time. It was seldom true of Jews and it is seldom true of Muslims.