[Illbay]

I think it is frightening, but all we can do at this point is to try to inject reason into the argument.

There is much of concern in the Muslim countries. They have festered for centuries in a Dark Ages of their own making, and it has been difficult to see the rise of militant Islamism.

But I am appalled at the hatred of people and their religion based on the actions of a few fanatics.

[quidnunc]

Illbay wrote:

But I am appalled at the hatred of people and their religion based on the actions of a few fanatics.

Daniel Pipes — an unquestioned expert on the subject — estimates that 5-10% of Muslims are Islamists.

Assuming that there are 1.2 billion Muslims throughout the world, this means that there are 60-120 million Islamists.

Furthermore, again assuming there are about 2 million Muslims here in the U.S., we have somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 -200,000 Islamists living right here among us.

This is somewhat more than "a few fanatics" I'd say.

[MarMema]

But I am appalled at the hatred of people and their religion based on the actions of a few fanatics.

Not hatred but discernment.

[B Knotts]

Well, I'm somewhere in the middle on this. While I agree with you that we should obviously be careful not to condemn all Muslims for the actions of some other Muslims, I also think there is something to the idea that Islam is actually less peaceful in its theology and ideology than any of the other major religions. Also, it is at once a religion and a political movement, which sets it apart from most other religions.

I can tell you this: The Arab-American institute, which ran the ad of the two towers, which berated Americans for being essentially hateful bigots who need to be told to not hate others, had exactly the wrong idea. If they had instead run an ad pointing out that they do not subscribe to the beliefs of the extremist Wahhabists, and wish to live in peace, and are actutally patriotic Americans who grieve for the victims just like the rest of us, and believe in religious freedom for all, including Jews, and do not believe in violence to achieve religious or political goals, they would have achieved a much better result.

The catch is that all of the above would have to actually be true. I do not honestly know if that is the case. I truly hope it is.

[watchin]

How many thousands of trained terrorists do we need before we move past "a few fanatics"?

Let me guess: you have several muslim friends who represent the mainstream of Islam?