Suppose, after the KKK did something horrible like a lynching, one third of the churches in this country spoke in favor of it? Suppose the other two-thirds of Christian churches stayed silent? Suppose a poll was taken among Christians around the world, and 70% of them approved of the KKK's actions? If that happened, Christianity would forever be linked with the KKK.
You can't dismiss 9/11 as "the actions of a few", because of the reaction by the Muslim world. Do you remember the cheering and celebration in places like Gaza and Iran?
The only effect the United States has had on the Middle East is that we made them a whole lot richer. We discovered their oil, we drilled it for them, and then allowed them nationalize most of the wealth that WE created. If not for us, that whole area would be the backwater that it was 100 years ago. And hopefully soon we'll uncover an alternative tp petroleum, and then it can become a backwater again. But in the meantime we don't need to humiliate ourselves by allowing them to spit in our faces with this mosque.
I'd be willing to wager that before JFK and Lyndon Johnson, before Civil Rights became the law of the land (when the KKK was actually doing a lot of the lynchings you are referring to), a minor but significant percentage of church leaders across the South and parts of the Midwest were speaking out in favor of it. Not 33%, but even 0.001% is too many. That said,
how many churches at that time didn't speak out against it? Not speaking out in support of it, but not speaking out against it? Failing to take an outward stand and saying that what the KKK was doing was wrong, and most-certainly NOT following the teachings of Christianity?! I'm guessing maybe one-third.I remember seeing the TV footage in Gaza the afternoon of 9/11. People burning American flags, waving shoes in the air and firing off guns in celebration. My first reaction?! Wishing that Israel and/or the United States would drop a nuclear bomb on that area and turn everyone living there into sulfur. That said, months/years passed, and I simmered down...realizing that two wrongs do not make a right, and that killing more people will just lead to, guess what?! Another generation or two of killing, hatred and distrust.
One other thing: Your reference to them and our (bolded). Five million Americans self-identify as Muslim. So are you saying that five million Americans (or 3.5 million, AKA 70% of individuals) were dancing and celebrating in the streets when the planes struck the Twin Towers?! I could be wrong, but I'm guessing about 4.95 million or more of those individuals, those citizens, those AMERICANS might take extreme offense to your lumping "them" in with people in the Middle East.
People need to speak out against the racism and religious discrimination that is being exhibited by people who are all wrapped up in "them" and "us," when "them and us" is also "we." If you are a Christian, ask yourself one simple question related to this issue:
What would Jesus do?!
I'm guessing racism, intolerance, and hatred/hostility probably wouldn't be terribly high on the To Do List.