Talking with a local colleague on Friday, he reminded me that Muslims constantly struggle with extremists, often coming from the outside speaking for their community. These extremists present a distorted, reactionary view of the Muslim faith, appear bolshy and forceful, lacking in compassion, understanding or any engagement with real relationships across different boundaries. For the majority of Muslims, they feel powerless in the face of sectarian groups that supposedly speak on their behalf, using the media's hunger for simplistic caricatures to make their splash. Your average Muslim would rather continue to follow their faith in a manner that fosters goodwill, neighbourliness and peace. It can all be very frustrating and demoralising. How would you feel in this situation?
Well, for many of us, we have an opportunity to sympathise, empathise and identify with the bulk of Muslims in Britain when certain Christian groups pronounce in the public arena to our consternation and bewilderment.
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