The right choice, but one that still troubles me

The New York Post has an interesting article that tells the story of a young man who did the right thing recently. He works at Circuit City and one of the jobs that he performs there is transferring video tapes to DVDs. Back in January of 2006 a tape was brought to him to be transferred. What he saw on that tape, bearded Islamic men firing guns while screaming "God is Great!," was enough to make him call the police. Thanks to him, the men and women of Fort Dix was saved from a terrorist attack.

What troubles me though is the moral calculus that he used before ultimately making the right decision:

"Dude, I just saw some really weird s-," he frantically told his co-worker. "I don't know what to do. Should I call someone or is that being racist?"

Actually it isn't being racist. Racism is the belief that human nature is a matter of pedigree, and that individuals of one pedigree are significantly or fundamentally different in important ways from individuals of other pedigrees. In its more noxious form it is the belief that individuals of some pedigrees are more deserving of freedom, civil liberties, or economic opportunity than individuals of other pedigrees. Racists are retards, nuff said.

In this situation race, and therefore racism, were never a factor.

Islam is not a race. Islam is a religion. Being a muslim implies adherence to a belief system. Being a Muslim is a choice, and one that has a profound impact on an individual's character and the choices they are likely to make. Being cognizant of these facts and utilizing them when trying to judge a person's intentions does NOT make one a "racist," it simply means that you are intellectually honest.

So he wasn't a racist, per se, but wasn't he a bigot instead then? Bigotry is the irrational fear, resentment or even hatred of others based upon their ethnic or cultural background. Had this man expressed an irrational fear or distrust of Canadians then I'd have to say he is a bigot because Canadians, as a general rule, aren't looking to rape or kill anyone. They just want to watch hockey and drink "blue."

Prior to 9/11 most Americans had little reason to fear Muslims because there was little reason to assume that they were going to hurt anyone either. Well that illusion collapsed along with the World Trade Center. Today it is a dead certainty that there are muslims in this world who want to hurt us, want to kill us, and who are willing to blow themselves up in the process to achieve that goal. It is also becoming increasingly obvious that they are not a fringe minority but comprise a sizeable portion of the Muslim world. (If the Muslim world is unhappy with this perception then it should take steps to change the reality it is based upon.)

To be alarmed over a video of bearded men in Islamic garb screaming "Allahu Ackbar!" while discharging weapons isn't racism and it isn't bigotry, it's basic common sense.

This is why I am troubled that this man's conscience has been trained to make him pause and fret over whether the entirely legitimate and rational concerns he had, somehow make him a bad person.

This is the world that our children are being taught to create, one where tolerance means the tolerance of evil and where the judgement of someone's behaviour is dependent upon which racial or ethnic group they belong to. If someone belongs to a designated "victim" group, then their choices and behaviour are not subject to investigation or consideration. In the bizarro world of the left, islamic terrorists are designated as "victims." They are so designated because their actual status as perceived allies to the left would not go over very well with the rest of the country. As designated victims their genocidal intentions are transmogrified into noble struggles against a designated evil oppressor, namely us. This is why this man was hesitant to do the right thing. He has fallen victim to the propaganda and institutionalized brainwashing of the left.

This is why I'm troubled.