Here is a link to a conversation between a CNN reporter and Haroon Moghul:
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/09/23/exp-haroon-moghul.cnn
Haroon Moghul is somebody to listen to. He is saying that Americans don't understand Islam very well. He is also saying that the stupid video that was put out contained lies and was an offensive depiction of the Prophet Muhammed.
So instead of saying that we can't believe how violent Muslims are, and how we can't believe that they "just don't understand free speech," we need to be saying we are sorry. An offensive video was made and even though we didn't put the video out, we condemn it and we are sorry that it caused so much pain.
There is such a thing as escalation and there is such a thing as deescalation and what we have been doing with our insistence on condemning all Muslims is escalation.
We are big enough to deescalate this. We are big enough to say we are sorry. We need to stop condemning the actions of others and take responsibility for our actions.
No more stupid videos. No more depictions of the Prophet Muhammed. We invite Muslims to the table. We invite Muslims to participate. This is deescalation. This is good action.
