[DVaut1]

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I now think you are sincere, but you just haven't read much of the Koran, or of the Gospels (since the Gospels contain the best known records of Jesus' words).

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How would you know what I have and haven't read? FYI, I've read the Gospels, a few times -- my Paul Hill comment was an attempt to point out that the "Just look at the POV of these fringe guys, they're indicative of the true nature of the religion" argument is fallacious; not that I truly believe Christianity is inherently a religion of violence. My question of 'You weren't convinced?' was genuine -- you shouldn't have been convinced!

And again...the fact that the *only* explanation you can turn to for why people haven't come to the same conclusions you have is that they're not as informed or as knowledgeable as you (the 'you just haven't read' comment) is a very serious intellectual flaw. You will be constantly frustrated about your inability to persuade people you're right if you continue to refuse to acknowledge the possibility that you might be wrong (as contradictory as that may sound), and that when people disagree with you, it is not always (or should I say, it's hardly ever ) a case of someone not listening to you, or not having accessed the same information you have.

As with most things in life (and this doesn't apply only to you, but certainly does apply to you, as it does to everyone) -- people disagree with you because you are generally unpersuasive. Nothing of what you say in regards to Islam, and the relationship between Islam and politcs, is particularly convincing. And it's not because no one is listening, and it's not because you think you're the only guy in town who reads.

As Cyrus correctly points out:

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Your ideas, such as sampled above regarding punishment of innocents, are quite close to totalitarianism, actually, although I'm sure you are blissfully unaware of it.

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...you've got alot in common with the totalitarians you claim to abhor, and yet I'm not quite sure you have any idea why you have so much in common with them, which is rather puzzling, to say the least.

Find pluralism in the dictionary. That's a start on the road to recovery.