For AndyFox et.al.

[andyfox]

"Before my folks had me they rented and apartment in S. Philly from a *black* landlord... I'm 40... so it seems that Affirmative Action wasn't required even that far back as the landlord was the property owner."

First, affirmative action has nothing to do with owning an aparment. Second, you take one example and take that as indicative of the way things are. This is the essence of racism and bigotry.

[andyfox]

"These stupid ancient Afro-Saudi region religions are going to be the trigger of WW. III."

More likely the cause of World War III will be people who consider other people stupid because of the religion they practice.

[MMMMMM]

andy, here is an important related point:

I'm pretty much for anyone believing whatever they want, religiously speaking, as long as they don't try to force their beliefs on me. I suspect you feel pretty much the same way. I don't care what religion someone professes. However I care very much when they start insisting that I follow their customs or believing what they do. And that, my friend, is the problem. While some hard-right-Christian types may get under your skin when they attempt to moralize or even get a few laws passed, their brand of fanatacism and intolerance is virtually nothing compared to the rigidity and intolerance of Islamic fundamentalism or Islamism. "Our own" fanatics, or "high and mighty" preachers, don't issue death-warrant fatwas, and we don't ban other religions from our country. We don't make it a crime to preach other religions, either.

In short, the big problem is not in thinking other religions are stupid: the big problem is in not tolerating other religions whether they are stupid or not. The other big problem is when religion tries to force people to follow religious code on pain of punishment or death. And Islam does these things far more than any other religion.

[andyfox]

American Airlines is an out-and-out racist. He is also anti-semitic. He believe blacks are ugly and genetically stupid. My post was in response to him calling other religions "stupid." He is wont to make glib, outrageous statements without any analysis, except for generalizations based on one or two incidents in his life.

[MMMMMM]

I know I was addressing a tangential point; it's just that that point strikes me as very significant. I'm also aware that your point was written in a context primarily addressing other issues. I wasn't really taking exception with what you said; rather I was just emphasizing a related point I feel is very significant.

Those who might think that Islam is just another side of a coin, or that it is not inherently different than other religions, are uninformed. Islam is inherently incompatible with all other religions and belief systems, and coexists with other religions to some extent only due to necessity. The goal of Islam is the subjugation of the entire world to Islam, and thus to Allah's will.