"You can rationalize all you want about this not being a religious war. To the people trying to kill us, it sure as hell is one."

Of course, thats how christians felt about the crusades. Okay- baby steps. Lets walk you through this one more time....

The Christians of hundreds of years ago who inflicted the Inquisition were reading, for all intents and purposes, the same Bible that my pastor reads from every Sunday. What's your point? Christian nations aren't burning blasphemers at the stake NOW. Christians aren't keeping women from driving or owning property NOW.

So obviously, whatever problem in western civilization that led us to wage slavering insane holy wars has at least been mostly dealt with, while our religion has remained largely unchanged.

So then one can largely reason that christianity had less to do with the dark and vile actions of the christians, and that those acts stemmed from something else- something larger... Something like, of, CULTURE, of which religion is only a small part.

Right?

It seems hard for you to digress and wiggle away from this point, because you practically make it in the section quoted above. is this getting through to you?

Despite your predicted and invariable next rhetorical 'I'm arguing to win at any cost, not to find out anything' move, I'm not arguing that the deeds of said folks are not vile and horrific, I am trying to help you grok that (1) You are making a fatal mistake of misunderstanding who and what your REAL enemy is (I know, its a common mistake with you conservatives, but you can grow past it) and (2) Along the way, your being a frikin' bigoted little dimwit. Is lee rubbing off on you?

don't care what Muslims preach. I don't care what they read. What do they DO??

Okay, so if most Muslims do act X, then muslims are bad because they are muslims.

Since most of them are olive skinned with dark hair and beards, should I then apply the same reasoning? Their madness is caused somehow by them being olive-skinned with beards and dark hair?

Most of them live in the middle-east, so should I reason then that all folks from the middle-east are evil?

There is common sense, sure. but then there is the sort of bigotry born of lazy thinking.

Its deeper than religion Tom. And I guess its deeper than you. (hey, it is flame)

Davin L.