I appreciate your comments

Submitted by Ron Thompson (United States), Aug 29, 2011 at 18:08

Thank you for your comments and well-chosen follow-up remarks.

One sentence I should have added would have pointed out the extent many people seem to be hypnotized by the sheer number of adherents to Islam. But it is nonsense that numbers alone should determine the worth or respectability of any belief system. Such a hypnotized deer-in-the-headlights reaction to the fact that there over a billion Moslems has led to a adngerous taboo.

It prevents all sorts of questions and analysis which, among other considerations, precludes us from knowing how many of those tens of millions may themsleves be doubters or possible drop-outs from the religion. After all, if the most hated enemy - the West - of the most vocal Moslems should subject itself to the Taboo of never saying anything critical of the religion itself, why on earth should potential doubters or drop-outs take the terrible risk of speaking up.

Our collective refusal, or rather the refusal of our timid leaders, to confront Islam per se may have the huge effect of depriving us of all sorts of potential and probable allies among the populations of the many nominally Moslem nations.

Cracking the Iron Curtain taboo on criticizing Islam, this time an Iron Curtain imposed on ourselves (which can probably be most clearly dated to the craven kowtowing to mob violence at the time of the Danish cartoon fiasco), would open up wide vistas for intellectual challenge and debate, a true global dialogue on whether islam cabn be a citizen of the modern world.

For instance, is the choice for the Moslem populations, Islam or Prosperity, Islam or Democracy, Islam or Human Rights, Islam or Iree Speech, Islam or Modernity? Is it possible that none of those things will ever happen unless Islam is either jettisoned as a belief system, or rendered subject to some sort of separation of Mosque and State?

Pre-eminently, these should all be at least discussable issues without fear of death threats or hysterical violence

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