The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #85850   Message #1596582
Posted By: GUEST,Whistle Stop
03-Nov-05 - 12:58 PM
Thread Name: BS: Muslim Violence
Subject: RE: BS: Muslim Violence
Message creep, Carol; you should watch that.

I did not make, and would not make, "broad, sweeping mischaracterizations about whole groups of people based on ignorance of what [I was] talking about." In the first place, it's obvious that your ignorance of the topic is at least equal to mine, so I think THAT is where you might show a little more humility than you have so far. Second, I was not characterizing people so much as I was characterizing a book; admittedly, it's a book that a certain segment of the population regards as sacred, but I did not make the leap to saying that all of those people are actually as evil as the book encourages them to be (some certainly are, but I'm sure most aren't).

At the risk of dumbing this down too much (and using more of the artless language you find so troublesome), my opinion is that the Koran simply contains too many bigoted, inflammatory messages, and too many overt incitements to violence, to ignore. I feel that people should be prepared to acknowledge it as such, and stop basing their worldview on it. And yes, I've read enough of it to feel confident in saying that.

Follow your conscience, and I'll follow mine; I'm sure it's the best either of us can do. [And the next time you decide to call me ignorant, I recommend that you be prepared to show that you're less so.]