Since the London bombings the discussions taking place in the blogosphere have been very similar to those after 9/11.
The comments range from the leftists' making apologies for Muslims ("It's our fault because we made them angry") to the moderates' condemning terrorism but defending Islam such as:
"The terrorists are not real Muslims. Islam is an ancient religion not worthy of being tarnished by the terrorists."
Then there are the strong condemnations such as:
"Islam is not an 'ancient religion', worthy of being 'tarnished,' that is for damn sure. It bases its core beliefs on a book that says it's an honor to hack-off an infidel's head, or die in the process of murdering infidels. There is no such thing as a 'moderate' or honorable Muslim."
And of course the predictable comparisons with Judeo-Christianity:
"Whether we Christians like to acknowledge it or not, the Bible DOES talk about stoning and showing no mercy to infidels."
My two cents: When was the last time you heard about Christians stoning infidels? Yep, they don't do that anymore.
I grew up living among Muslims (or Mohammedans as we called them) in South Africa. Most of them don't take their religion too seriously and are actually fairly secular, materialistic and ambitious. They were known as "black Jews" in South Africa (a back-handed compliment but not an outright insult.)
But the fact is that the religion of Islam stinks. Mohammed was a scheming opportunistic weasel who married a rich old widow to further his ambitions. It is a primitive religion and, unlike Judaism and Christianity, has never had a Reformation.
Our bible-thumpers may not be the most enlightened people in the world but so far they have not bombed anyone. Islam is not a religion of kindness, mercy, forgiveness and love. Has everyone forgotten the video footage of Muslims cheering and celebrating in the streets of the mid-east after 9/11?
The Muslims that I grew up with in South Africa live in a multicultural society and have had to adapt. Same goes for most of those whom I have known in the USA.
In the middle-east, however, they live in practically homogenous societies and are arrogant and medieval. Sadly that applies to many in the UK too (and the rest of Europe) where they are not really ever accepted as British and live in ghettoes.It seems that, if their religion and culture are never challenged, they can happily go about being reactionary dinosaurs.
Last zinger: One of the major causes of dysfunctionality of middle-eastern culture is seldom talked about because it is controversial and distasteful. As much as the Muslims hate gays, they have a dirty little secret - many are pederasts.
Richard Burton (no,not Mr Elizabeth Taylor - I mean the explorer and translator of Thousand and One Nights) called the mid-east and Mediterranean the Sodatic Triangle because of the wide-spread practice of pederasty.
Muslim boys are molested by older males from an early age. Is Islamic culture pathological because of the sexual abuse of its little boys who then grow up to be vicious, sado-masochistic and corrupt?
Excerpt from "Generation Kill," by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright is about the Iraqui war. Wright was embedded with the Marines of First Recon.
The other culture shock for the Marines is that several [Arab] men seem to be hitting on them. One asks Garza to lift up his glasses. When he does, the man leans forward and says, "You have pretty eyes."
Another of them asks a Marine if he likes boys or girls. When the Marine says, "Girls," the man makes a face and says, "Girls, bah!" Then he points to a young man standing nearby, makes an obscene gesture with his fingers and says, "You go with my friend, you like."
