Replies

You missed my point. I was saying that culture is different from race, and that distinction is what the Islamics and their apologists in this article are failing to recognize. Rhys-Davies isn't concerned about their racial background at all -- and J.R.R. Tolkien might be distraught if he thought people were using his literature as a propaganda tool for encouraging such a thing. You might agree with that in particular.

Where we probably differ is how to speak about "western superiority." I believe it's true, you believe it's true, and we both would defend western civilization one way or another. For me, it's a matter of diplomacy. I was just saying that I had no cultural fight to pick, no "crusade" to fight against other cultures. But when they threaten mine, that's when the tables turn.

I think these intellectual ninnies who claim that Rhys-Davies is a racist are deluding themselves in two ways: first, they mix relgion up with race. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Second, they make terrible guardians of our safety. If we waited for them to raise a warning, a warning that the barbarians are at our gates, we'd be already under Dhimmitude shortly thereafter. That's wrong, too. I can paraphrase their position in stark terms: they're saying that since crusades are wrong, to fight against jihad (especially in its milder, more "moderate" forms) is wrong, too. Sorry, but when someone levels jihad at me, I am not going to sit still.

So you and I agree on the important things. You're just more of an evangelist than I am. I do think our brand of intellectual, religious, and political liberty is worth advertising far and wide, however. So we even agree on that.