Now is not the time to be politically correct?

I don’t think so.

Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist for The Los Angeles Times, wrote in his column Monday that it is time for Americans to stop being cordial to any Muslims living in America and realize that everyone is a suspect because of the war on terrorism.

“It is past time to stop worrying about political correctness and the names we might be called – such as intolerant bigoted Islamophobes – and start telling the truth. America’s enemies are among us,” Thomas wrote.

So really what Thomas is advocating is not an escape from political correctness, but the beginning of more bigotry and intolerance against an entire religious group.

Being an “intolerant bigoted Islamophobe” is not something we should take lightly and just expect to be considered by the outside world. This is the type of image we Americans, being a part of the land of the free and the home of the brave, should strive to stay away from in every way we can.

How can anyone promote more hate against Muslims with the current state of domestic and international affairs?

As the United States continues to drop bombs in Afghanistan and show more military presence in Iraq, we should have compassion for the innocent people in those countries who are nothing but bystanders to oppressive governments.

Hating and fearing the members of the Muslim population will not take away the terrorist events that have already happened, nor will it stop any further terrorist acts from occurring.

If anything, this added tension could lead to more acts of violence in the way of hate crimes.

Thomas also said in his column that all Muslims can be suspected as a potential terrorist. “I do not doubt there are peaceful Muslims, but they aren’t the ones with the guns and the explosives. How does one tell the difference?” Thomas wrote.

If we all took Thomas’ lead, we could suspect other religions and nationalities of all being criminals for different reasons. We could suspect that all white men are members of the Ku Klux Klan and all Italians are in the Mafia.

Of course we would not make such unreasonable assumptions, so would should in turn, receive Muslims with the same amount of respect and understanding as we would someone of any other race or nationality.

Every group has its extremists, but they are the minority, not the majority.

Muslims are citizens of this country as much as any Christian, Jew, atheist, pagan or a member of any other religion.

Just because we experienced one very terrible act of terrorism against us from one group of Muslim extremists does not mean all Muslims are against America. In fact, many are just as horrified by the terrorist acts as the rest of us.

The Muslim religion does not advocate hate or violence, nor should we accept it or justify it in the name of our own peace of mind.

*Amber Williams is News editor and semi-monthly columnist for The Daily Eastern News. Williams also is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]