The best quote I heard about the refugees is &quot;they&#x27;re fleeing the same problems and people you&#x27;re worried about&quot;. I really hope we can protect refugees better than we have been.<p>The problem with religion is that it isn&#x27;t one thing. It&#x27;s a general philosophy and creation myth to many, and to others it&#x27;s day-to-day marching orders. That latter set is purely crazy - hearing voices, believing counterfactual things, and is often programmed to kill other groups or at least believe they need to die. If someone is a flat-earther in a battle with round-earthers you can take them up in an airplane high enough to see the curve of the Earth, or to space. But there&#x27;s no counterproof that can be given to a religious killer.<p>I think the reason people tend to see Muslims as a single group is that both camps (not Sunni vs Shia, but Sane vs Crazy) share the same sets of religious leadership and respect the same historical figures. For example, a southern baptist and a russian orthodox member would have nothing (religiously) in common. If one sect started murdering others, or picking at a weak justification in the bible for slavery, the other sect would condemn them. But Muslims (through the seemingly accepted method of death-threats from priests) control their religious world more tightly. To be a member is to at least profess to, if not actually believe, a specific set of things.<p>There&#x27;s no broad blanket condemnation for entire classes of horrible actions. The Saudis control Mecca and yet the &quot;peaceful&quot; muslims continue to travel there and enrich not only a kingdom but one that routinely executes people for rejecting minor religious traditions. It&#x27;d be like me saying I didn&#x27;t support the Catholic molestation coverup and then going on a three-day Vatican tour and coming back with a pope hat.<p>So while it may be a stereotype, it is a deserved one (Ask Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali) and Muslims should pay the price of changing it instead of insisting others simply trust them despite their memberships and alliances.