Dear Liberals: Being Critical of Islam Is Not Racism

[Yo_Mama]

61. NO, being critical of any religous idea is not necessarily discrimination.

Note that the original article is actually criticizing a form of Islam, not all Islam.

People on DU have every right to be critical of Protestant ideas and dogmas, Catholic ideas and dogmas, and Islamic ideas and dogmas.

I write that as a person of deep faith, and I don't write that in spite of my faith, I write that because of my faith.

There is NOTHING LEFT of religious freedom if there is not the societal freedom to debate religious ideas. That is why I am a fundamentalist First Amendment adherent.

This is a very old issue in American civil life, law and politics. Consider Reynolds v. United States:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_v._United_States

What you are actually arguing for is theocracy rather than anti-discrimination. If an idea may not be debated in the public sphere, the democratic legislative process is destroyed.

We have done very well in this country in allowing people to follow their own consciences without destroying the ability of others to follow THEIR own consciences. When belief becomes action or law, it must be debateable in the public square. Otherwise, the Constitution itself is nullified.

In many branches of Islam, there are ideas which are very incompatible with our way of life. These ideas have political implications. Any Muslim who wishes to live in a western representational democracy will have to either adopt an Islam which allows this, or leave. There is a real conflict here for some Muslims. It is one we cannot solve for them.

What people here are saying is that the answer has to be "No" to some of those beliefs.