i think it's not about the religion so much as it is about tribalism. muslims, christians, jews, hindus, buddhists, wiccans, even athiests...the trouble lies not in the faith itself but in its practice. practice can get completely infected and twisted by tribalism--the need to actively compete against other groups for resources, visibility, bandwidth, whatever. this is necessary when your human rights are at stake, but becomes petty, dirty, and lethal when, perversely, the stakes are smaller and less tangible. and the insulted can be just as abrasively tribal as the oppressors.

there are some basic rules of engagement with your fellow man, no matter who they are or what they believe. when you become so consumed by an idea that you violate those rules, you cause trouble. at best, you turn into someone who's no fun at parties. at worst, well, hopefully we've seen the worst already.

merry whatever, y'all.

Decius wrote:

skullaria wrote:
As a pagan, I've not experienced anything but hatred from all but ONE Muslim that I've worked with - and that has been a lot. He was an amazing man that contributed a lot to this state.

I've had the opposite experience. I've never known a "hard core" Muslim. I don't think I'd get a long with one. I have prickly relations with "hard core" Christians, particularly of the statist variety. There is perhaps nothing more repulsive to modern ideas about society and government than Sharia law. But Islam is a culture, (and a huge one) and most of its children are reasonable people. They are no different from any other major religious group.

RE: A Bigot in Congress - washingtonpost.com