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Unread 06-11-2017, 07:43 PM
Jim Moonan Jim Moonan is offline
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Location: Boston, MA
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Earlier in the day I was working on a response to the discussion/debate/vitriol that was seemingly unfairly hostile to a good chap, William. Though he, too, was dishing his fair share.

I hadn't finished it and wasn't certain I would ever finish it or whether it would be a PM or post -- But that's all over now. Bill has flounced.

So I'll post what I had written thus far -- though inarticulate and incomplete -- and let it be my parting gift to Bill, who might not ever open it.

I think Bill's perspective is a valid one -- and he's not alone. There are a growing group of thinkers (Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Ayaan Hirsi Ali are in the forefront) that are, in essence, saying that there are tenets of the Islamic faith that are in desperate, critical need of scrutiny in order for the religion to thrive, even survive. All sides (there are more than two sides to what we are facing) need to engage in true debate aimed at resolution. This is not a competition to prove anyone is right or wrong, or that anyone can win by winning or lose by losing. It goes much, much deeper than that, I’m afraid. (Trump would like us to think that way – that winning is everything). The hard work must be done in the trenches.

As Sam Harris said, “It’s like fighting with fog.”

That Islam is emphatically proclaimed by many to be a religion of peace is indication that Muslims are open to reforming it from being a totalitarian religion of inflexible domination over the individual spirit. Push for reform. Support the overwhelming majority of Muslims who are living the reformed version. Go forcefully, overwhelmingly after the vicious murders that use Islam as a façade for murderous actions.
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