I have no way of knowing whether that is true, other than having to invest maybe 10,000 hours studying the Qur'an and Muslim culture before I can form an educated opinion as to whether or not it is the Religion of Peace.
Frankly, I have better things to do with my time, and I resent that Muslim fanaticism has placed the burden on ME to undertake such a project.
Before 9-11, I didn't know that much about Islam, because it never interested me, although I spent a few years studying Buddhism and also took an interest in Hinduism. I always thought Islam was maybe a little weird, and definitely not my thing, but I figured "live and let live."
Since 9-11, I have grudgingly and resentfully accepted the necessity for learning more about Islam purely as a matter of survivial -- my own survival, that of my family, and that of my beloved America.
And I have to tell you -- the more I have learned, the more I have become appalled. If the proof is in the pudding, then a look around the planet at the poverty, terrorism, brutal injustice and ignorance that prevails in virtually every Muslim society is all the proof I need that Islam is no force for good in this world.
If Islam has any redeeming qualities whatsoever, they have yet to be revealed to me.
I know that there have been a small handful of Muslims that have publicly registered their objection to the homicidal cultish violence that has become the public face of Islam. But based on what I have seen, these individuals are only a teeny, tiny minority. They are the 1% that has been given a bad name by the other 99%.
I can understand why Bush must publicly state that we are not at war with Islam. If I were him, I would make the same statement purely as a pragmatic policy. But that's just politics. What has become abundantly clear is that the world would be much more peaceful and far more better off if Islam went away tomorrow, and if its practitioners did, in fact, convert to some other religion.
I have no way of knowing whether that is true, other than having to invest maybe 10,000 hours studying the Qur'an and Muslim culture before I can form an educated opinion as to whether or not it is the Religion of Peace.The US government has people working time on analyzing Islam and the various Islamic nations. Yet our President (who most of us here trust) not only emphatically denies that we are at war with Islam, but backs his views up with policies and actions. In addition, impeccably credentialed conservatives from Tom Clancy to Grover Norquist insist that Islam is not our enemy.
-Eric