Overcoming cultural differences

[Bruno]

Dan, you should have a poll on it to see how the numbers come out, though we should work on positives.  Sorry for creating a minor bru-ha-ha, but I couldn't resist.

I have no problem with Muslim... only problem with extremist... The muslim one responsible of the 9/11, the christian one who blow hospital, the KKK who hate colored people, the anti-mondialist one who blow Mc Donald in Europe, the ecologist one who put in danger a lot of people by blocking the water cooling of nuclear central, etc ...

[jb]

We have in CC, TX a couple of "Talk Radio" stations, KKTX 1360 AM, and KEYS 1440 AM, one of them, (I forget which) conducted some research polls using word association type questionairs.

The key words were buried in the middle somewhere, but it went something like this;

word and response
black = white
red = blue
house = home
car = truck
school = student, classroom, bus, kids, and a few others
Muslim = terrorist

and.,,,  substituting Islam for Muslim got the same response.

It didn't seem to matter if you used Muslim or Islam, the responses were about 6:1 the same, men and women in this part of the world associate Muslims and Islam with terrorist, they do not trust them as a people.

As you know, I've spent a career in the oil patch, and did some time in the mid-east.  If you ask other men who have worked there what they liked about working there, the answers are almost always, "well,,,the money was good".  Ask them if they would like to go back and the answer is almost always "No".  Ask them why and you hear things like, "Man, those people are still living in the stone ages", and, "the society is too restrictive", and my favorite, "there are no girls to go out with".

Some folks may not like to hear the un-PC side of life, but it's still there and not buried too far under the surface.  The same sort of polls were conducted and we seem to feel much the same about gays and lesbians and same sex marriage.  I guess we are just too conservative for our own good.

[Admin]

We have in CC, TX a couple of "Talk Radio" stations, KKTX 1360 AM, and KEYS 1440 AM, one of them, (I forget which) conducted some research polls using word association type questionairs.

The key words were buried in the middle somewhere, but it went something like this;

word and response
black = white
red = blue
house = home
car = truck
school = student, classroom, bus, kids, and a few others
Muslim = terrorist

and.,,,  substituting Islam for Muslim got the same response.

It didn't seem to matter if you used Muslim or Islam, the responses were about 6:1 the same, men and women in this part of the world associate Muslims and Islam with terrorist, they do not trust them as a people.

As you know, I've spent a career in the oil patch, and did some time in the mid-east.  If you ask other men who have worked there what they liked about working there, the answers are almost always, "well,,,the money was good".  Ask them if they would like to go back and the answer is almost always "No".  Ask them why and you hear things like, "Man, those people are still living in the stone ages", and, "the society is too restrictive", and my favorite, "there are no girls to go out with".

Some folks may not like to hear the un-PC side of life, but it's still there and not buried too far under the surface.  The same sort of polls were conducted and we seem to feel much the same about gays and lesbians and same sex marriage.  I guess we are just too conservative for our own good.

And this relates to RW how ???

I have written about it before - and will do so again. This site is NOT the place for debate over issues of religion or politics or race.

The topic needs to veer back on-course now.

- Dan

[Gator]

Glad we are back on topic.  If people kept stirring the pot, I fear that I would be next on the list because I have had Muslim girl friends (obviously not those that wear a chador).   And I have dated a Muslim RW.  BTW, I liked them and they liked me (and they had no brothers).

[Todd]

My apologies.  I didn't mean to start a major discussion on this point, I was merely trying to answer the question.  I've traveled to the KSA 10 times this year so far, and it has certainly been something Kate and I see differently.  However, with that said, it is probably more my early exposure to a Sunni Muslim family rather than growing up in different countries. 

[Admin]

My apologies.  I didn't mean to start a major discussion on this point, I was merely trying to answer the question.  I've traveled to the KSA 10 times this year so far, and it has certainly been something Kate and I see differently.  However, with that said, it is probably more my early exposure to a Sunni Muslim family rather than growing up in different countries. 

No apology necessary. This is one of those topics which is right on the edge. To the extent the discussions are based on RW, the discussions have merit and are fair game. When they cross over to becoming unrelated to RW, then they are out of bounds.

For example - a discussion on whether or not RW, generally, are bigoted against Muslims is a valid topic. Integrating into a society in the US (or UK or....) which is more (or less) tolerant, and how others managed that, is another valid topic.

Let's just keep things thematic.

- Dan