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DeviantMind - that is an interesting screen name. Perhaps you're just bent on civilizational suicide and the promotion of evil. Why else would you pick that screen name

Indeed. DeviantMind, would you care to explain us what made you choose this screen name? I mean, if you chose it as a self-description, you can't really expect us to take you seriously!

While I certainly am not supporting DeviantMind's point of view, I would like to ask FReepers to judge a poster on his/her content rather than his/her screen name. A name is a name, and though some names may sound less like FreedomFriend and more like PsychoticDemon, a poster should not be critized for that. FWIW, I think there are plenty of better ways to refute DeviantMind's post.

(And a ping to FreedomFriend while I'm at it!)

I'll begin by addressing the comment about my name. I chose it to represent the fact that I am not one to simply fall in line, to accept without questioning or to walk along like a lemming until I fall off a cliff because I was too ignorant to find things out for myself. Deviant, a derivative of "deviate" suggests that I choose to take the road less traveled, rather than follow every other footstep on a particular path.

Now, as far as Islam declaring war on America, that is a fallacy. I never stated that the individuals who have been making the attacks were not Muslim. That may very well be true, and in some cases we have that as fact. My point was that the accusations that -ISLAM- has declared war are ludicrous. A system of religious beliefs cannot declare war. Nations wage war, men declare war, factions fight wars, religions do not. To say that a religion declared a war is saying that an intangible concept has attacked a tangible nation-state. Again, ludicrous.

With the exception of the Catholic church, there is not a single known religion that boasts a seat of power, or a hierarchy of leadership presided over by a single, living individual. Islam most certainly does not have this. It is true that there are nations in the world that are considered "Islamic States," but these are autonomous, and often have as much difficulty negotiating with one another as they do with the United States.

To the person who claimed I hate the United States. Grow up. If I hated the United States, I would move. There are plenty of countries in the world that I could go to where I would be able to avoid breathing toxic fumes from the same airspace as simple minded, ignorant conformists. But I am a born citizen of these United States, and take great pride in the fact that I live here. I am also proud to say, with moderate certainty, that the individuals who founded this country were not close minded snobs who spoke out against anything that did not fit within their precious paradigm.

And to the challenge to prove the post wrong, I don't have to. You've done that for me by being unwilling, but most importantly _unable_ to locate any reliable evidence to support your claims. An effective debate flows with one individual making a statement, the second party challenging the statement and then the claimant presenting evidence to support his claims. When the claimant is unable to do so, he loses credibility, and thus the debate is over.

A note: I respect the right that each of you have to believe what you want, and to say what you want. However, I also have those same rights, and will enjoy them as I see fit. This includes calling people out when false statements are spewed across a public form.

A second note: to Mr. Montana, who wrote the post that started this thread, I do want to say one thing. While I disagree with what you said, and have enjoyed pointing out the inherent flaws in your argument, I AM impressed with your writing. You seem like an intelligent and talented, albeit uninformed and bigoted person. Kudos.

Devon A. Weir
aka DeviantMind