Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
The problem with blaming the whole religion is that it implies that you blame everyone in it. Do you?
This is the problem right here. We have conflated race and religion to such an extent in the case of Islam that we have forgotten that they aren't even close to being the same thing. Islam is a religion - a set of ideas upon which people are expected to base their lives and - like any set of ideas - it is a valid target for criticism.

I'm a Catholic (albeit nominally) and, if you ask me whether Catholicism bears some responsibility for the many crimes of priests against children I would say that it absolutely does. Nothing controversial about that whatsoever.

However, if you suggest that Islam as a creed may bear some responsibility for the actions and attitudes we see in Rotherham, Rochdale and Newcastle, it won't be long before you're shouted down as racist. Why the difference?