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| A Muslim Terrorist? Can It Really Be? | ||||||
| No matter the year, no matter the subject, and no matter the place, there are always groups that are angry over certain things and are ready to protest and get their views out there. Now I have absolutely no problem with people being able to express their views, in fact, I love to hear opposing viewpoints, but sometimes expressing opinions get to a point where the person or group is just making a complete fool out of itself. Such is the case with the stance that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has taken with FOX's award-winning show "24." | ||||||
| "24," the show which finds Kiefer Sutherland battling terrorists across Los Angeles over a time-span of a day, is under fire from CAIR for its depiction of Muslims in the current season, which started on Jan. 9. The major plot of season four is not yet known, but viewers of the show (including myself) have already witnessed an American-Islamic family by the name of Araz conspiring to do something sinister to the United States, including kidnapping the Secretary of Defense and holding him hostage at gunpoint while a video camera rolls, similar to the real-life kidnappings and murders of several journalists and American citizens such as Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg. At the crux of CAIR's argument is the depiction of Muslims as terrorists in popular television shows and entertainment, but my question is, what is wrong with that? Why are Muslims off-limits to being depicted as terrorists when the vast majority of terrorists in the world are, in fact, followers of some kind of Islam? | ||||||
| According to CAIR's Web site, the group "is calling on Muslims nationwide to contact local Fox TV stations to ask that they air the CAIR 'I am an American Muslim' public service announcement (PSA)." In its response, FOX "encouraged local affiliates nationwide to place the PSA as close as possible to the airing of the popular '24' drama series." Now, I can understand FOX buckling under the pressure of such a letter and airing the PSA, after all, the company is in the business of making money and does not want to estrange itself from any fans, but why was it even necessary in the first place for CAIR to make such a fuss. I cannot even begin to tell you how many things I have either read, heard on the radio, or seen on television, that insist that the average Muslim is not a terrorist, and I think most Americans already accept this and know that the Muslims that are terrorists only represent a small portion of Muslims worldwide. But why does it need to be continually shoved down peoples' throats by special interest groups with chips on their shoulders? | ||||||
| Previous seasons of "24" contained villains ranging from a disgruntled MI6 agent to an Eastern European terrorist played by Kiefer Sutherland, but suddenly when the topic involves Muslims FOX should feel as if it is walking on eggshells? Is it inconceivable that a Muslim would be a terrorist or, gasp, plot against America in a sleeper cell? If memory serves me correctly, exactly that scenario happened on Sept. 11, 2001, when several Muslims who had assimilated into society attacked this country. "24" is simply mirroring a scenario that is entirely possible in this day and age. | ||||||
| I never understand groups such as CAIR, which fight for a certain collection of people, yet fail to see the bigger picture and immediately become defensive when Muslims are seen in a critical light. How ironic it is that the average person here in America is capable of seeing the distinction between a peaceful American-Muslim and a terrorist, when CAIR, a group which fights for Muslim rights, cannot. | ||||||
| Copyright Gerry Wachovsky, 2005, and Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. | ||||||
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