It actually wasn't aimed at you. Generally addressing how segments of the population think and act was what I was aiming for.

Usually, when I am addressing or using someone as an example, I try to mention them by name, because I tend to dislike people subtly referencing other people in a discussion. 

I honestly don't know enough about you personally to make lump generalizations, Magic. I'll address things I think are off base, but I'm not about to paint by numbers to make a picture. Likewise, with dingo, I only know him by a few comments I happen to disagree with and offered another perspective for him to do with as he will, and I know he's a veteran who fought in a brutal, long conflict, so I can certainly understand why he feels that way about Muslims.

I was actually commending him for being honest and acknowledging he has a strong bias. My point was a lot of people don't. 

I don't ask people to change their beliefs/ how they feel because of something I or anyone else say. I simply ask that they listen and at least consider another perspective. 

Believe it or not, I'm agnostic and used to be hardcore atheist for similar reasons as what you guys have said, but time and no small amount of thinking about it made me decide against outright dismissing religious positions and deciding that the world would be a better place if people just accepted people aren't always going to conform to your values. You don't have to agree with them, but at least try to respect them. You rarely ever know the whole story, y'know?