Quote Originally Posted by Monty92 View Post
I think there has been a communication breakdown here. Frankly, you seem totally confused. I don’t believe Burney or I have ever said we hate the BELIEFS of ALL Muslims.

There are millions upon millions of Muslims around the world who follow a benign form of Islam. And while I may consider them any number of things such as naďve, foolish or deluded, they give me no reason at all to hate them.

Alas, we also know there to be millions upon millions of Muslims around the world who believe in the less benign tenets of Islam. And it is these Muslims that I have no problem hating – both them individually AND their beliefs - and I consider this no more controversial than saying I hate Nazis as individuals and that I hate their beliefs too.

In fact, saying I hate Islam is in no way substantively different to saying I hate Nazism. And just as saying I hate Nazism is very different to saying I hate people who believe in tenets of Nazism such as economic self-sufficiency and a strong national identity, saying I hate Islam is also different to saying I hate Muslims who believe in the benign tenets of Islam.

But as soon as I learn that someone endorses the less benign tenets of Islam, then I have an entirely legitimate reason to hate them. Just as if I find out that someone who believes in the values of a strong national identity also believes in a form of Social Darwinism, then I have legitimate reason to hate them too.

And if Nazis were breeding like rabbits, proliferating in number, growing in power and influence, and had killed more than 400 innocent people on European streets in a handful of years, I’d be obsessively counting and calculating them too.

Do you actually disagree with any of this? And given how I've laid out my position, would you really describe my views on Islam to be "bigoted"?

And if so, are you able to explain why you wouldn't also say someone who hates Nazis is also bigoted?

There has indeed been a major breakdown of communication. Throughout our conversations about thisyoudescribedanyattempt on my part to distinguish between interpretations of Islam as a 'straw man' or a red herring. My point from the start was that Ibelievedthat the problem was with a strict, medieval interpretation of Islam which was (a) relatively recent in its popularity and (b) a clear response to the Muslim diaspora through the western world. THis was a significant aspect of my argument that attempting to blame the entire religion was wrong and ignored other hugely significant factors. You never, at any point, allowed this argument.

Now you are distinguishing between the benign and the non-benign and accepting that ISlam can, in many,many instances, be harmless

If you do indeed accept this, then we can leave it there. Well, lets face it, it is going to keep coming up again in different forms but we can certainly leave this specific part of the conversation.

I dont think anybody finds the radical fundamental form of Islam acceptable or appropriate, particularly in Britain.

Based on the above, I hereby formally withdraw my accusation of bigotry and I thank you for your time.