From a brave WSJ op-ed http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006712 by Ali al-Ahmed of the Saudi Institute in the WSJ this morning: As a Muslim, I am able to purchase copies of the Quran in any bookstore in any American city, and study its contents in countless American universities. American museums spend millions to exhibit and celebrate Muslim arts and heritage. On the other hand, my Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia -- where I come from -- are not even allowed to own a copy of their holy books. Indeed, the Saudi government desecrates and burns Bibles that its security forces confiscate at immigration points into the kingdom or during raids on Christian expatriates worshiping privately. Soon after Newsweek published an account, later retracted, of an American soldier flushing a copy of the Quran down the toilet, the Saudi government voiced its strenuous disapproval. More specifically, the Saudi Embassy in Washington expressed "great concern" and urged the U.S. to "conduct a quick investigation." Although considered as holy in Islam and mentioned in the Quran dozens of times, the Bible is banned in Saudi Arabia. This would seem curious to most people because of the fact that to most Muslims, the Bible is a holy book. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia we are not talking about most Muslims, but a tiny minority of hard-liners who constitute the Wahhabi Sect. The Bible in Saudi Arabia may get a person killed, arrested, or deported. In September 1993, Sadeq Mallallah, 23, was beheaded in Qateef on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible. The State Department's annual human rights reports detail the arrest and deportation of many Christian worshipers every year. Just days before Crown Prince Abdullah met President Bush last month, two Christian gatherings were stormed in Riyadh. Bibles and crosses were confiscated, and will be incinerated. (The Saudi government does not even spare the Quran from desecration. On Oct. 14, 2004, dozens of Saudi men and women carried copies of the Quran as they protested in support of reformers in the capital, Riyadh. Although they carried the Qurans in part to protect themselves from assault by police, they were charged by hundreds of riot police, who stepped on the books with their shoes, according to one of the protesters.) swhitebull

More bon mots - from historian VDH: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson200505200756.asp swhitebull - it doesnt get any better than this

A decent muslim? Wow, what's that make, two so far? I'll try to give credit if it's due, but how much moral clarity am I going to learn from people who stone rape VICTIMS to death for "dishonoring" their husband? Neo nazis in Idaho? Is that a bored bunch, or what? I think there's only 1 minority in Idaho. The only discussions at their klan meetings is "We gotta get Eric!"

AK wrote: "The only thing I hate is Islam." That explains it. For the same reason one would not go to the KKK to learn about African American history, or ask an anti-semite about Jewish culture, there is not much one could learn about Islam from Islamophobes.

Wonderful comparison. If we could just see beyond our own prejudice, we'd see how much there is to learn from the KKK, Nazis, and Today's Islam.

PlatypusMaximus wrote:" Wonderful comparison. If we could just see beyond our own prejudice, we'd see how much there is to learn from the KKK, Nazis, and Today's Islam" Considering one of his previous messages was headed:"Islam must be nuked" PlatypusMaximus certainly gives the impression of having learnt a lot from the the "KKK and the Nazis". It seems going beyond prejudice for some people means embracing bigotary, and hinting at genocide.

Nonsense, I'm just as big of a KKKaphobe and Antisemiteaphobe as I am Islamaphobe.

Sorkoi, do you have skid marks on the top of your head?

AK wrote: "The only thing I hate is Islam." >>That explains it. For the same reason one would not go to the KKK to learn about African American history, or ask an anti-semite about Jewish culture, there is not much one could learn about Islam from Islamophobes<< Main Entry: [2]hate Function: verb Inflected Form(s): hat·ed; hat·ing Date: before 12th century transitive senses 1 : to feel extreme enmity toward 2 : to have a strong aversion to : find very distasteful intransitive senses I hate idiots too.

KORAN FLUSHING EQUALS MASS MURDER [Andy McCarthy - National Review] More on the militant arithmetic from CNN: About 300 people have taken part in a noisy protest over the alleged desecration of the Quran outside the U.S. Embassy in central London. … A British policeman said the language was offensive and unpleasant in the extreme. But police overlooked that and the fact that more than a few of the young men in the crowd covered their faces, technically a violation of British law, according to the police. Shouting, "Down, down USA; down, down USA," the protesters called for the killing of Americans, the death of the U.S. president, the death of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the bombing of Britain, and the annihilation of the U.S. capital: "Nuke, nuke Washington; Nuke, nuke Washington! Bomb, bomb the Pentagon." Some of the militant Islamic rhetoric smacked of incitement to commit murder, CNN's Senior International Correspondent Walter Rodgers reported. "Death, death Tony Blair; death, death Tony Blair. Death, death George Bush," the protesters chanted. "The only language we speak today is the language of jihad," said one protester. Two questions: First, where are the counter-demonstrations? That is, where can adherents of a “religion of peace” be found publicly condemning claims that their religion calls for “death, death, death” over something as comparatively minor as a defiling of the Koran – much less one that didn’t happen? Second, will CNN or anyone else in the MSM write a story observing that no Americans are engaged in mass demonstrations today, torching Korans or calling for “death, death, death” to Muslims in response to the gleeful burning of American flags, much less calls for the murder of our president or the “nuking” of our capitol? Just wondering. swhitebull - are there no Muslims willing to stand up to this?