Also betraying the liberals' stereotypical thinking is their insistence on treating Muslims with paranoid-level delicacy, lest the slightest affront will provoke them into a suicide-bombing mission. We can't even gingerly appeal to them to rethink their own brazen-insensitivity-on-steroids in choosing to build a showcase, in-your-face mosque on the very site where warriors under the Islam religious banner massacred thousands of people on American soil. (By the way, the idea that the erection of this mosque is intended as a symbol of religious freedom, as opposed to a militant triumph over the West, is offensively and pitiably laughable.)
If liberals truly believe Muslims are peace-loving, reasonable, enlightened people who have contributed so much to world peace, the advancement of civilization and American achievements (Cairo speech), then why do they constantly send the signal that they are one slight away from hopping the next flight to Afghanistan for jihadist training?
Indeed, why does the left demand that we patronize and treat with kid gloves all "minority" groups instead of assuming they are adults and can be treated as individuals? Treating people as groups is much closer to racist thinking than treating them as individuals.
Rush's caller not only plays into the idea that we owe Muslims amends but also is necessarily implying that they would be receptive to such amends. (How has that worked for Obama personally, by the way?)
Is it reasonable to expect Muslims, even the moderate ones, to be motivated toward religious tolerance by our expressions of it? If America's historical and current practices haven't been sufficient motivation, then why would one more overture?
But more than that, even if you assume that only a small percentage of Muslims are jihadists or sympathetic to jihad -- or that jihad is not an outworking of Islam, but a distortion of the faith -- do you also believe that only a small percentage supports Shariah?
If a significant percentage of Muslims do support Shariah, then how could we be naive (and self-destructive) enough to believe they are impressed by our traditions of pluralism and tolerance? Have you read about their administration of Shariah in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and elsewhere? What makes you think they subscribe to the idea that our system is superior? Not according to their values.
If peace is our goal, we should do less hand-wringing about whether other people like us, and focus more on whether they respect us.