Fair enough. I hereby state I should have said, to be cautious, "some cases" instead of "many cases". Still, public perception is what it is. You can't will it away.
I don't remain silent in the face of falsehood, no matter what the public thinks. Clarifying misconceptions can and does change public perception. Once upon a time the public perceived the black race to be inferior to the white race. You wouldn't ridicule or dub 'politically correct' the people who challenged that perception would you?
I agree that peace-loving Muslims (in the West) are "unfairly" tarnished by a violent few (that is if we don't count sympathies for the attackers :thumbs_do ).....but it does no good to simply stomp one's feet.
So now I'm stomping my feet? Did anyone ever tell you you have a bad habit of belittling people you disagree with? And what's with the speech marks?
If you knew me as a person, you'd know that I'm very well integrated into British society, thank you very much, without the need to fly a Union Jack from my trousers. You've simply assumed that because I'm Muslim, I must be some sort of stubborn beardy bloke who refuses to fit in, sympathises with terrorists and whinges a lot without actually doing anything.
Let's say I cant get a date because I have hair growing out of my ears. Do I blame women because of their insensitivity to the natural effects of testosterone? After all, its not my fault. Or do i pluck out the hairs?
Which strategy is likely to succeed? Confrontation or compromise?
You do what you want - you make your
own choice. You might decide to pluck out the hairs. You might decide that you want to find someone who accepts you as you are without passively aggressively blaming society in the process. You might decide to wear earmuffs. Whatever floats your boat.
A better example would have been, '
should the entire Italian-American community
have to prove they are law-abiding citizens because of the actions of the Mafia?', in which case I would have answered 'of course not. If they wish to prove their loyalty by joining the Army or the police force, that's their prerogative, not a requirement of citizenship'.
As I've said above, if people wish to fly flags, that's their prerogative. I'm just saying I don't think that such displays should be a requirement of living in a democratic state, as certain people here have implied. Like I said, I've not seen British churches, synagogues, hindu temples, gurudwaras or mosques flying the Union Jack, nor would I expect them to. If the owners of such buildings
decide to fly flags, fair enough, it's their choice.
