Notes from Around, in the wake of attack on the Sikh temple

Provided without comment.

Huffington Post

Page was the leader of a white supremacist band called End Apathy, and gave an interview to a music website declaring that he wanted to "end people's apathetic ways" and that "I was holding myself back," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Page said he had been part of the white power movement since 2000.

Paul Raushenbush

Sikhs are not Muslims and Sikhs are not Hindus, but jumping to clarify difference leaves the unfortunate, if unintentional, perception that there is something wrong with those "others." 

I am reminded of the run up to the election four years ago when the Obama campaign kept on emphasizing that the candidate was not a Muslim. Only Colin Powell had the guts to stand up and say the obvious: The fact that Obama isn't a Muslim should not be the focus of the campaign, rather we should all remind ourselves that it shouldn't matter if Obama were a Muslim.

Another HuffPo;

The outlandish accusations of Muslim Brotherhood affiliations made against American government officials and agencies by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and four other Members of Congress have rightfully been dismissed by many public figures and members of themedia as utter nonsense. While it's tempting to shrug this off, the incident could have significant repercussions for the individuals singled out for accusation and for religious tolerance generally.

Rolling Stone

By one count, about a fifth of Americans incorrectly believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. (He is a Christian.) That's messed up. Know what's more messed up? That half of Republican voters in Alabama and Mississippi think he is. Of course, there's nothing wrong with being a Muslim. And it would be fine with me if our president were a Muslim. But he isn't. Now, maybe some of the Deep Southern GOPers who told Public Policy Polling they think Obama follows Islam don't actually think so, but rather were using "Muslim" as a proxy for "not a real American," or "someone I don't relate to," or, who knows, "a guy with terrorist sympathies." Also messed up.

From Southern Poverty Law Center:

Kathleen Blee: One thing we know from studying hate violence on the Internet and other media is that when people have violent or racist ideas, they are often very vague, very amorphous. What the Internet does is get people to focus, to make their racist and violent ideas much more coherent and much more targeted toward particular kinds of people. If you have somebody who is predisposed toward violence or predisposed toward racism, even vaguely, this can really gel [his or her] ideas. They [racist websites] give people a sense that violence is not only possible for somebody to commit, but laudatory. 

From the AP

A mosque in southwest Missouri burned to the ground early Monday in the second fire to hit the Islamic center in little more than a month, officials said.