Qur'an Project

I have a few things to say about the recent post at the Bjørn Stærk Blog.

First, let me correct a mistake I made in original post. I make the mistake of assuming (without checking) that Bjørn was left-leaning and America hating. Had I looked a bit closer in the heat of the moment, I would have seen that he is not and seems to be a reasonable and thoughtful person. I retract and apologize for my comment that he rightly busts me on.

Second, my poorly worded point on the quotes culled from LGF must have been misread because Bjørn left out the entire point by editing out the following:

I really hope that these people are never judged by their inaction or lack of denunciation of evil among them.

I am a regular reader and sometime commenter on LGF and do not think it right to paint me (and many others) with the words of a few, just like Bjørn thinks it is unfair to paint all Muslims with the words and actions of a few.

Finally, Charles Johnson succeeds in making my point much better than I could have on my best days.

The fact is that across the Islamic world, you find the very highest spiritual leaders expressing virulent hatred of the West, support for jihad and suicide bombing, and Nazi-like antisemitism. I've come to believe, with reams and gigabytes of evidence, that these views do not represent a minority, as we're always told; but rather, that by any measure they have to be considered mainstream. Does this mean that every Muslim is a terrorist? Of course not! Like people everywhere, the majority simply want to get through the day.

But what you're seeing at LGF is that more people are beginning to question the entire basis of Islam, and whether there is something about the religion that encourages extremism and jihad violence. This is a vitally important question that shouldn't be ignored or covered up. If there truly are endemic problems in Islam (and I don't consider myself expert enough to make such a categorical pronouncement), then only by criticizing and discussing -- and sometimes expressing outrage -- can this ever be changed.

Charles makes the point and shows yet again why I am a fan of his site.