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Reader comment on item: Middle Eastern Upheavals Enter Round Two
in response to reader comment: Well said

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

Submitting....

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Reader comments (16) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1As Said [57 words]Mark D.Sep 12, 2011 00:42189281
Islamic Protestantism [53 words]AntifonSep 10, 2011 07:07189219
1Attack on Israeli embassy in Egypt [141 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PrashantSep 10, 2011 03:58189216
3What if it were 1&1/2 Million instead of 1&1/2 Billion? [400 words]Ron ThompsonAug 28, 2011 15:22188923
2Well said [159 words]PrashantAug 29, 2011 00:03188923
2I appreciate your comments [330 words]Ron ThompsonAug 29, 2011 18:08188923
4More quality than quantity [114 words]Michael Hanni MorcosSep 29, 2011 13:32188923
1Mideastern Upheavals Round Two [58 words]Dan RusenAug 27, 2011 22:31188912
1This is the "Arab Fall"! [70 words]Ben ZeeAug 27, 2011 19:36188908
3It is the umpteen round, not second [109 words]NuritGAug 27, 2011 18:26188905
1Sharia Law will follow [28 words]KerryAug 27, 2011 15:16188901
12nd inning! [19 words]Steven LAug 27, 2011 14:07188899
1Be Careful What You Wish For! [51 words]Barry BlackAug 27, 2011 12:00188897
3After short term turmoil, it will turn for the better [450 words]PrashantAug 27, 2011 23:30188897
2We Will Need to Safeguard the Oil Fields [51 words]jdAug 27, 2011 09:27188894
3LIBYA IS AN ISLAMIC STATE [202 words]Ilene RichmanAug 27, 2011 09:08188893

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