Islamophobia
Some humans have fear of certain things, they then tend to attach catch words to it such as "Islamophobia". Do you have Islamophobia? As defined by one site:
Islamophobia is a neologism used to refer to an irrational fear or prejudice towards Muslims and the religion of Islam.
Ref. Source
Personally, I think it's rather stereotypical and bigotous for people to fear those of the Muslim faith. Yes, a few bad people did some horrendous things, but that doesn't make them all bad. There are Americans who murder other Americans every day, and I don't see people from the US have some Americanphobia because of it. There are going to be bad and good people in every culture, in every walk of life. It doesn't matter if somebody says they follow a Christian faith, Islam faith, Buddhist faith, etc. It doesn't matter if they are black, purple, pink, white, clear, or camo. There are bad things happening in every type of society.
I remember after 9/11 all of the Gyro Cafe's around here were closed down because they are all run by people of the Middle Eastern descent. That's crazy to me that they felt that fear, and what's worse is that their fear was fully justified. There were Muslim students who were checked out of school for their safety. That's not fair or justified in any manner that one brand of people is being hated on because a handful of people that happen to share their culture have done some horrible things. There are Christian pastors who have committed pretty heinous acts, but everytime it happens, I don't see all the Christian students being checked out of school because of harassment.
Whether or not I agree with their religion, I do believe they have the right to walk the streets of a country and not have to worry about being assaulted or treated badly because of their background. When most people have a prejudice against a person because of race, religion, sexuality, etc., it tends to extend beyond just ignoring them and choosing not to associate with them. A lot of times it ends up in the bad treatment of those people, and nobody deserved that. Every Muslim person I have ever met, and it's been quite a few, have been incredibly intelligent and some of the nicest people I have ever had the privilage of knowing.
Horror at Fort Hood Inspires Horribly Predictable Islamophobia
By John Nichols
Because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia. Ref. Source 9
Religious Leaders Condemn Growing Islamophobia:
Leaders of some three dozen mainstream U.S. Religious denominations Tuesday condemned what many commentators have called a rising tide of Islamophobia touched off by the recent controversy over the construction of a Muslim community centre in Lower Manhattan Ref. Source 3
They can condemn it and try to say that it is not happening but I think it is happening and at a accelerated pace with all the talk over the so called "ground zero mosque" I feel that people were wanting a reason to hate the islamic faith and that was the catalyst they needed.
Top Stories More Important than Quran-Burning Nut Job
By Juan Cole
The horrible era of anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States yielded a one-day silly season on Thursday. - The weird cultist Terry Jones, fired from his church in Cologne, Germany last year for abusing his congregants, preaching hate-filled sermons, and demanding absolute obedience, was favored by an unprecedented telephone call from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking him not to burn the Quran. Ref. Source 9
Jewish Groups Denounce 'Museum of Tolerance'
Builder Simon Wiesenthal Center for Support of Islamophobia
By Alex Kane
A coalition of four Jewish groups, backed by a wide array of peace and justice organizations, held a demonstration Sept. 16 outside the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in New York, denouncing the organization's opposition to the Islamic community center in lower Manhattan. Ref. Source 4