re: #126 Desmond

Thank you for an answer to my question. Now I will answer some of yours. From your #84:

Perhaps we should define what exactly “anti-Islam bigotry” IS. Is any and all criticism of Islam “bigotry”? Is it scapegoating all Muslims to criticize the religion they follow? Are all religions equally pre-disposed towards violence? Are all religions morally equivalent?

You seem to have agreed here on one thing that is anti-Islam bigotry (from your #35):

I don’t see how anyone reading my posts could assume that I’m speaking about all Muslims or that I somehow believe that the majority of Muslims support ISIS (I said the exact opposite in my first post).

So you are not speaking about ALL Muslims, but let’s look at your most recent comment:

Here’s the thing. When you have a clear pattern with violent organizations all around the world all claiming inspiration from their religion, I don’t think it’s the same as an indvidual psycho like Anders Brevik claiming inspiration from Christianity. Or even larger groups, like Buddhist monks supporting the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar, but nowhere else. Those are cases of extremism localized to a certain time and place. Jihadism is unfortunately a global phenomenon.

We’re still avoiding my main argument. It’s relatively simple: Based on the available evidence (however imperfect that evidence may be), it seems that large percentages if not outright majorities in many Islamic countries hold beliefs and support institutionalized religious laws that are frankly incompatible with modern ideals of liberalism. With the absence of a more moderate majority, this unfortunately limits the political choices to either autocracies or theocracies, either of which is an ideal breeding ground for Islamist radicals.

I bolded the parts where you come damn close to saying ‘all Muslims’. You cite exceptions, but only a couple. You leave out the country with the most Muslim citizens, and the lowest scores in those PEW polls in support of illiberal ideas.

That’s why you look like a bigot. Why do you want to paint with such a broad brush? You don’t want to talk about one country or even one region. Actually, you are talking about one region, but then you claim the phenomenon is a global one.

Maher painted with an even broader brush, but you present yourself as being here to inject balance because Bill was being ganged up on. That doesn’t look good, from my point of view.