Banning Muslims: It's a Good Thing?

So it's out there...let's ban Muslims from entering our country (if anyone is reading this from outside the good ol' USA...that means if you're a Muslim you're  not welcome here in the land of the free and the  home of the brave.)  I don't know who's building the "Muslim detector," but I imagine it's like a scanner at the airports.  You walk through and a little red light goes off if you are Muslim.  I'm assuming all other religions get the green light.  Perhaps atheists get a yellow light (warning, warning...possibility of conversion here!)  Who know what happens to children of a mixed marriage.  (I've heard that there ARE actually people who are NOT Muslim who have married a Muslim!  Amazing, but apparently true!) Maybe we would have to monitor them for signs Muslimist? (Muslimization?  Muslimfacation?)

I'm hoping that you think all of the above to be pretty absurd.  That was my point.  But I actually think (and hope) that this whole "let's not allow any Muslims in the USA" is a good thing.  It's forcing conversation.  It's all people seem to be talking about.  And talking is a good thing.

Most people seem to realize how ridiculous the whole idea is.  That's definitely a good thing.  People are talking about the fact that you can't judge an entire body of people based on the actions of a group of extremists. We see that you cannot condemn one set of people based on activities of others who have (sort of) the same background. (If we did, then we'd have to think that ALL Caucasians of the South would be member of the KKK)  People realize that not all Muslims are ready to blow themselves up.  We are seeing "them" as people; which is what we ALL are.

We need to have this discussion.  We need to realize that people are not just their religion, their ethnic group, their culture.  We are all individuals and just because we belong to a certain group does not make us one thing or another.

Certainly there are some "bad" Muslims in this country.  As I Christian, I can also say that I know there are some "bad" Christians in this country.  There will always be "bad" individuals no matter where we go in this world.  There will always be groups of people set on spreading hate and fear.  But just because these hate groups identify with a culture or religion does not make everyone who is part of that culture or religion part of that hate group.  

So in some backwards way, this "banning” idea has actually brought this country closer together.  Perhaps we are actually coming to realize the absurdity of it all, and that's definitely a good thing.