I'm not sure I'm going to stay around

[Sawdust]

After the way my opening remarks in my now infamous post about Muslims were so grossly distorted, I'm not sure I want to be a part of this group. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a racist and I bitterly resent being called one. If the staff can't be bothered to dig into their archives and read my opening statement with an open mind and straighten out this injustice, I guess I don't belong here.

"We determined the OP to be a a very clear and hateful misrepresentation of the Islamic faith as whole, in that it was assumptive that the Islamic faith and all Islamics promote killing "non-believers"
Such a generalization instigates pronounced and sweeping "hate" toward the religion as a whole.
We cannot allow such behavior at Thoughts.com"

I sure was enjoying most of you but I feel so insulted right now, I can't picture myself participating further.

[EyeVey]

Originally Posted by Sawdust

After the way my opening remarks in my now infamous post about Muslims were so grossly distorted, I'm not sure I want to be a part of this group. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a racist and I bitterly resent being called one. If the staff can't be bothered to dig into their archives and read my opening statement with an open mind and straighten out this injustice, I guess I don't belong here.

"We determined the OP to be a a very clear and hateful misrepresentation of the Islamic faith as whole, in that it was assumptive that the Islamic faith and all Islamics promote killing "non-believers"
Such a generalization instigates pronounced and sweeping "hate" toward the religion as a whole.
We cannot allow such behavior at Thoughts.com"

I sure was enjoying most of you but I feel so insulted right now, I can't picture myself participating further.

Please don't leave. I read the thread, got distracted and by the time I got back, the rest is history.

I really enjoy your posts, and I know that many do benefit from reading your perspective.

[VictoriaWV]

Originally Posted by Sawdust

After the way my opening remarks in my now infamous post about Muslims were so grossly distorted, I'm not sure I want to be a part of this group. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a racist and I bitterly resent being called one. If the staff can't be bothered to dig into their archives and read my opening statement with an open mind and straighten out this injustice, I guess I don't belong here.

"We determined the OP to be a a very clear and hateful misrepresentation of the Islamic faith as whole, in that it was assumptive that the Islamic faith and all Islamics promote killing "non-believers"
Such a generalization instigates pronounced and sweeping "hate" toward the religion as a whole.
We cannot allow such behavior at Thoughts.com"

I sure was enjoying most of you but I feel so insulted right now, I can't picture myself participating further.

I don't want you to leave this site. I did not read the thread... but, I know that this is a misunderstanding and I am sorry you were insulted. I ask you to reconsider and do as you always do, take the higher road and know you remain credible with many of us. I have spent time here with you on this forum and do not consider you to be a racist at all.


I am sorry this happened. I respect you and your thoughts.

[thoughts_staff]

Sawdust,
We apologize for any confusion we may have created by our discription of your original post.
We also sincerely apologize if our decision to remove the thread has upset you this greatly.
We understand that your intention was to have a civil conversation.
Yet, we must maintain that the way that the thread was approached was with an "anti-muslim" bias.

That being said, we also strongly do not want you or any others to be labeled in any negative fashion due to the content itself being removed.

The post inferred that people of the Muslim faith are not to be trusted given that some fractions, of the large and diverse faith, espouse fanatical views.

Such a statement could be said about many religions, and if a generalization was made about how every Christian should not be trusted because certain individuals of that faith have killed in the name of God, we would promptly remove that content as well.

We appreciate your input and thoughts, and in no way what to inhibit your ability to express concern about the safety of our troops.

We simply, ask that such dialogue be more mindful about not making assumptions based on fear and "guilty by association" rational about individuals prescribing to a particular belief.

We sincerely hope you will not find this to be to much of a hinderance to your expression here at Thoughts.

Best Regards

[HoneyBunny]

Wasnt to sure about you at first mate....but am now.....your an ok Guy and would so miss not having you around ye know....dont leave us like a few have.....please.

[xmy556a]

If thoughts_staff missed this call, it wasn't on purpose, of that there's no doubt.

Others, some old members and the occasional new member post trash on purpose.

PS anyone who had anything but an excellent impression of Dave (Sawdust), his intents and generosity, would be embrarassingly mistaken.

[Wheresmycoffee]

Originally Posted by Sawdust

After the way my opening remarks in my now infamous post about Muslims were so grossly distorted, I'm not sure I want to be a part of this group. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a racist and I bitterly resent being called one. If the staff can't be bothered to dig into their archives and read my opening statement with an open mind and straighten out this injustice, I guess I don't belong here.

"We determined the OP to be a a very clear and hateful misrepresentation of the Islamic faith as whole, in that it was assumptive that the Islamic faith and all Islamics promote killing "non-believers"
Such a generalization instigates pronounced and sweeping "hate" toward the religion as a whole.
We cannot allow such behavior at Thoughts.com"

I sure was enjoying most of you but I feel so insulted right now, I can't picture myself participating further.

Stick around my friend. Thoughts is still experiencing growing pains... You've got a lot to say and a lot of people that want to hear it.

[VictoriaWV]

Originally Posted by HoneyBunny

Wasnt to sure about you at first mate....but am now.....your an ok Guy and would so miss not having you around ye know....dont leave us like a few have.....please.

I ditto that.. Dave, I have grown attached to McGee and Lucky too.. BTW. Do not own what another might try to give here... do not claim it. K? Just post with the same integrity as you always do.

[VictoriaWV]

Originally Posted by thoughts_staff

Sawdust,
We apologize for any confusion we may have created by our discription of your original post.
We also sincerely apologize if our decision to remove the thread has upset you this greatly.
We understand that your intention was to have a civil conversation.
Yet, we must maintain that the way that the thread was approached was with an "anti-muslim" bias.

That being said, we also strongly do not want you or any others to be labeled in any negative fashion due to the content itself being removed.

The post inferred that people of the Muslim faith are not to be trusted given that some fractions, of the large and diverse faith, espouse fanatical views.

Such a statement could be said about many religions, and if a generalization was made about how every Christian should not be trusted because certain individuals of that faith have killed in the name of God, we would promptly remove that content as well.

We appreciate your input and thoughts, and in no way what to inhibit your ability to express concern about the safety of our troops.

We simply, ask that such dialogue be more mindful about not making assumptions based on fear and "guilty by association" rational about individuals prescribing to a particular belief.

We sincerely hope you will not find this to be to much of a hinderance to your expression here at Thoughts.

Best Regards

Dear Staff,

I am thinking here... please hear me out. The thing is we have a different world here since 9/11. We did not know about AlQuada, Hamas, Radical Islam... now these are terms a child can pick upon and get the idea that something is wrong in this world setting... So, we are always at our wits end when some kind of tragedy happens to our people here on this beloved American soil... like what took place at Fort Hood.

The belief system is so different, Holy Jihad being a war declared upon the inner man... and how stringent the war can become when you start thinking about how one can truly line up flesh to spirit in perfect holy union... we, in America, as a whole collective body are still learning here too... about the belief system of Islamic faith.

Radicals and terrorist cells are everywhere... it can make for anxiety when an attack comes such as that man taking lives there for his own reasons... his own deranged reasons... I believe that if you think along the lines as Dave and Gia, EyeVey, and a few others of us here... you might understand that we don't slam Muslems who practice their belief in Personal Holy Jihad... that is what we are learning about as the way Mohammad built the foundation of faith upon.

What we cannot grasp and comprehend is the radical aspects... the Jihad to end all Jihads... you know what I mean? I think that is where we all have to take a better interest in trying to separate the radicals from the most benign and honorable nation of Islam. If you read the OP again... I did not read the following replies before it was deleted...

But I only ask that you take a time here to ponder this as well...

I really believe that Dave did not intend this thread to be tagged as racist as he assumed we all was on the same page as him with the shock of the things there being said in the Fort Hood tragedy already. He felt it noteworthy to just add something about his own inability to understand a lot about the belief system... as he made the OP and then he was also grieving for the loss of innocent blood.

A Muslem should not kill innocents... just as a Christian or Catholic or Agnostic should never spill blood, but it does happen and it makes one leary again to trust when asked to do so, it makes a fear come again, it just puts people on the defensive again... that was the the way I took it to mean... Not that he was being a racist at all... in fact he was being a run of the mill human being trying to speak about grasping onto the rationale of killing in any form and fashion, in any mindset, in any type of religious affiliation.

The Fort Hood tragedy will shed light to all of us here on the reasons why the soldiers were killed in the next days and weeks... but we do not have to doubt that somebody snapped in their judgement who took it upon himself to slaughter there... whose name just happened to be Hasan, not Davis... who was a Muslem, not a Baptist...

I will shut up. But to conclude:
I work with Muslems day in and day out... I am friends with all of the ones I have been with here in my job. I have babysat for a doctor and driven another to a conference... the OP was not a racist statement IMHO. He just was speaking he was left feeling a loss at understanding the faith there too... I really believe that is what he was trying to convey. Just like Judaism, Christianity and the others are hard to understand too, at times... too.

[templar_knight]

Originally Posted by Sawdust

After the way my opening remarks in my now infamous post about Muslims were so grossly distorted, I'm not sure I want to be a part of this group. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a racist and I bitterly resent being called one. If the staff can't be bothered to dig into their archives and read my opening statement with an open mind and straighten out this injustice, I guess I don't belong here.

"We determined the OP to be a a very clear and hateful misrepresentation of the Islamic faith as whole, in that it was assumptive that the Islamic faith and all Islamics promote killing "non-believers"
Such a generalization instigates pronounced and sweeping "hate" toward the religion as a whole.
We cannot allow such behavior at Thoughts.com"

I sure was enjoying most of you but I feel so insulted right now, I can't picture myself participating further.

For what its worth, I feel that leaving would be a mistake for you.
I never got to see the post so on its content or intent I can't comment. But its hard to really gage someones intent in this type of setting.
The best thing to do is to stay and disprove any who may think ill of you.IMHO