[CompassionateLibertarian]

The question has never been whether the U.S. desires war on the Muslim world. We don't. A typical Muslim has more freedom of religion here than in countries where we have adversaries.

However, there is a question of whether much of the Muslim world desires war on the U.S. I am not an expert, but it strikes me that this is a possibility. If so, I don't think we should try appeasement or psycho-analysis. We should insist that they respect our way of life, and we have to be prepared to do whatever is necessary to preserve it.

[driftless]

It seems we're not dealing with a lot of reasonable, informed people in Islamic-dominated countries. Can you imagine during WWII if most Americans protested fighting Germany and Italy because they were Christian nations? If the cabdriver in Cairo or the housewife in Islamabad supports OBL, they are our enemies also. We won't kill them, but we don't have to love them either. My response to these backwards jerks comments is to tell them to cram them up their keisters. Suspend all aid to unfriendly countries and see if they like us more. From what I've seen and read about most Islamic-dominated countries, they are incapable of progressing along Western-style avenues. A pox on the lot of them.

[meenie]

I try to look at the give and take of any disagreement. First of all, this is a clash of religions, regardless of denials by all sides. In most of the Muslim countries there is persecution of Christian and Jew by forbidding missionary work. In Israel, there is not prison, but discouragement of missionary work in other ways. This can be explained in part because of the state-religious connection of all these countries.

My conclusion is that we are fortunate that our founders made a very wise decision when they set up a system of religious freedom for all denominations.

We are attacked for this neutrality by all sides of the religion controversy. To try to walk the fine line of trying to accommodate the hostilities of all sides in this religious war is almost impossible. Religious freedom is the answer to most of the problems the world is having now, but how to achieve it is the big question.