<...A more interesting question to me is, why do you resist the idea of studying about Islam? Is understanding Muslims something to be avoided? If so, then why?

I have no problems with understanding other cultures. What is wrong right now, particularly in our university system (which, for the record, is the wellspring of the rest of the public education system), is that very few institutions are teaching the reasons why America is where it is, the philosophy of individual rights and its history back to the Magna Carta and beyond, the moral basis of the capitalist system, our ideals and principles, and the way our country works at its most basic levels. If we taught medicine the way we teach economics and political history, we would all be dead.

Our college kids in liberal arts programs, and the teachers who go to education colleges (before moving on to elementary, middle, and high schools), are for all intents and purposes being taught Marxism in any context even remotely related to politics or culture*. This is why that little vein in my forehead is throbbing.

*Try and tell me it's not true. I'll bury this site in documentation. Go ahead...make my day.