Slow news day...

Hot weather over most of the state...Protesters smash a Burger King in Scotland...London gets the Hell bombed out of it...

Okay, will someone enlighten me? Will someone please tell me what kind of religion advocates the senseless slaughter of so many innocent people? Will somebody please open a door so I can see into the narrow and dark mind of a muslim extremist, and say "Oh, that's why they did it." ? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

No, I didn't think so. You couldn't pry open a mind like that with a crowbar. One so hell-bent on death and destruction that it cannot be happy unless it is bathing in other people's blood.

But this is what I don't understand: I moved to the south of France in June, 1989. I helped teach English courses, among other things. I often came in contact with muslims, and they were the most well-mannered and respectful people that I encountered during my entire stay in France. They would constantly invite you to dine with them (If you have food for one, it will feed four) and share in their company.

They were much nicer than most of the white French folk, who despised the very thought of Americans, let alone the presence of one. I imagine most muslims are like the ones I knew, and yet, they share the same religion as the terrorists do. And, for the most part, do not condemn the actions of the terrorists!

What's going on here, guys? Secret programming? Are they living normal respectable lives until their draft number is picked, and then they turn into bloodthirsty animals? Is every muslim a ticking time bomb?

While I do not know about the standard, every day muslim, I can tell you that the terrorist model is nothing more than an animal that walks on two legs. The biggest difference between animals and humans being, of course, the ability to reason. You cannot reason with a terrorist. You cannot compromise. You cannot make things better by an apology. In doing so, you unwittingly play into their script, delay the inevitable by a few months or years, and all the while giving them more time to probe your soft underbelly for places to strike.

It doesn't take a prophet or psychology major to figure out that 9-11, Madrid and London are not "the big ones". No, the fanatics are quietly cataloging what works and what doesn't. But one day, the big one will come... if we remain divided against ourselves.

We are, as a society, more concerned about whether a person is republican, democrat, liberal, conservative, black, white, english-speaking, non-english-speaking, religious, atheist, gay, straight, pro-life, pro-choice, rich, poor, male, female, blue-collar, white-collar, southerner, northerner, easterner, westerner, legal citizen, illegal immigrant, etc. America is so concerned about its differences (oh, forgive me, Diversity) that it has become the great salad bowl instead of the great melting pot.

If bringing all of the strengths together from a garden variety of foreign cultures is what made us great, then separating all of those out again and dividing us against ourselves is what is making us weak (Thank you, ACLU). And all the while, our enemy is building bombs and loading their guns and living among us, looking forward to the day that America is spoken of in the past tense.

We need to put our pride and petty differences aside and come together, or we will see much worse days ahead of us.