I don't particularly find this activity to be useful, but the response to this protest is instructive.

A protester staked out the home of a Muslim candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates, holding a sign and wearing a T-shirt that mocked Islam.

Timothy Truett sat in a folding chair Saturday on the cul-de-sac outside Saqib Ali's home in Gaithersburg with a sign reading "Islam sucks," and a shirt with the slogan, "This mind is an Allah-free zone."

Curiously, though, Ali did not seek to dialog with Truett.

Ali took several photographs of Truett but refused to speak to him, saying he did not get the impression that Truett wanted to start a constructive dialogue.

"We don't waste our time talking to people who hate us," Ali said Sunday.

Interestingly enough, that is precisely what we are told the US needs to do -- we need to talk to those who hate us in order to understand them and seek to change our ways so that they no longer feel alienated from us. Similarly, Israel is expected to engage in peaceful negotiations with those who launch rockets and send suicide bombers to kill her citizens. But Saqib Ali doesn't feel he (or the Muslim community) needs to reciprocate.

But then again, what do you expect? Those who speak loudest for Islam today -- al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, etc -- would rather fight, maim, and kill those who refuse to submit to Islam than take a single step towards accommodation and coexistance. Perhaps Mr. Ali and Mr. Truett are not that far apart in how they view the world.

Posted by: Greg at 03:56 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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