Muslim cabbies refuse rides with alcohol

Kinda long subject line. Sorry. There's a story in Mpls newspaper/radio that said that cabbies in Mpls are refusing to take riders with alcohol in their possession. Not just drunken ones. It was also stated, on a radio talk show, that some Muslim cabbies refuse to take riders with groceries such as ham, or other pork products. So far it's a local phenomenon, far as I have heard. So much for religious tolerance as preached in the "Holy Quran".
Then there's the flap about the opera in Austria(?) that might offend Muslims. I read some of the posts in this forum about it. It sounds like the offensive parts were "artistic license" of the original. So what. Is offensive language really the reason for suicide bombers murdering women and children? Where is it written, in any constitution that one is guaranteed freedom from offensive language? Christians,of late, get blasted on a regular basis, but there aren't ministers or pastors, or priests that call for suicide bombers against the "heathen unbelievers". Not even in the deep south, in the notorious "Bible Belt." And I never hear of Baptist cabbies refusing to take dancers in their cabs.
But, NO, let's not make the Muslims mad, they might blow up one of our office buildings, or schools. The nut cases that would do that do not need a "good" reason to murder. They do it because their religious leader has convinced them that it's a ticket to Paradise. Sorry, for such a long post, I had to vent a bit. But I'm not sorry for what I said.

Mark Norby said:
But, NO, let's not make the Muslims mad, they might blow up one of our office buildings, or schools. The nut cases that would do that do not need a "good" reason to murder. They do it because their religious leader has convinced them that it's a ticket to Paradise. Sorry, for such a long post, I had to vent a bit. But I'm not sorry for what I said.

Think logically for a minute. No, the extreme cases don't need a reason. But really what do you accomplish in adopting their philosophy, by simply putting on another face hateful of an entire foreign religion? All it does is it chases more of the fence-sitters over to their side. Dancing on a stage with a severed head isn't going to accomplish anything in terms of defeating extremists, and moreover from a political standpoint it is actually helpful to them. The complete lack of political and propaganda savvy on our side of the ocean is unnerving to me: seems like every time the extremists make a noose, we obligingly stick our head in it.

And like I said, from a practical standpoint your average theatre company or opera troupe doesn't have he resources to fight an open war with Islamists. That stuff is better left to the military. But if you feel that strongly about it, there is no one stopping you from putting on your own little production for your muslim friends.

As for the cabs and alcohol issue, I generally agree that's a little out of hand and those drivers would probably best find other work -- but I hear a compromise may be to have different-colored lights on the 'dry' cabs which would prevent people from standing in line for a cab only to be turned away -- this way the market can resolve the issue by creating a business opportunity for those drivers who aren't so fussy about transporting alcohol.