Gary Kolle, St. Joseph
Ron Scarbro says moderate Muslims in their silence grant approval to extremist views. I would like to remind him how other ethnic groups have responded to extremist threats to our country. The German American community was not silent in the build up to WWII. The German American Bund built youth and training camps across the United State; they held rallies including one in 1939 where 20,000 Americans marched and screamed “Heil Hitler” (maybe this is the rally Trump or should we say Heir Trump remembers.) My great uncle told me we had relatives return to Germany to fight for the Nazi fascist cause. They did use religious arguments to support their cause. The common argument then was Jews killed Jesus. A recruit to a youth camp in Wisconsin said we were taught “as Christ wanted little children to come to him, Hitler wants German children to revere him.” If one simply Googles Americans who supported fascism many interesting family and corporation names show up like Kennedy, Bush, Ford, Lindbergh, Bayer and IBM.
No group or religion has a lock on crazy racist behavior. Compared to Fascist Europe in the 30s, ISIS is still just a few rabid dogs in the desert. They are dangerous but nothing like the Nazis. The biggest threat from ISIS is they will cause us to overreact. A reaction then justifies their beliefs and makes them more popular and dangerous. ISIS grows and thrives on the hatred and anger caused by war and military occupation. Let our reaction to ISIS not turn us into the evil we oppose.