Earlier today a friend posted on Facebook her opinion that a mosque near Ground Zero was not a good idea. Fair enough; she offered her opinion without guile or prejudice. But it was followed by a number of comments from others equating Islam with terrorism, making tasteless jokes about “Osama/Obama,” indicating a lack of basic knowledge about Islam, sadly indicating a lack of basic knowledge about Christian history, and an unawareness of the existence of churches, synagogues and (I am told) one basement mosque that are already in the neighborhood. Everyone has a right to his or her opinion. That may be the only true right any of us has, but not all opinions are equal. Those based on solid, verifiable information deserve the greater respect, especially when dealing with issues that touch raw nerves. If one goal of terrorism is to generate fear and incite hatred then they may have won this round.
You hit the proverbial nail on the head with your last sentence! Sad, but true. It's easy to make disparaging remarks about any group we perceive to be different. When incorrect or overblown, as the remarks usually are, they likely lead to the result you describe. As we have through the ages, we continue to criticize the speck from our neighbor's eye but completely disregard the log in our own eye.