Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelhus999
So, it is not possible to have an informed opinion of a religious belief system and believe that system has too many bad ideas and this is a problem?
I don't actually know Maher's case that well, but that is basically Sam Harris's argument that he has been accused of Islamophobia for.
Depends on the religion, how you phrase the criticism and what you do with it.
I'd probably be pretty silly if I went to a fluffy "Jesus loves everyone" new-age Christian who carried a banner in a pride parade and started chastising him for the actions of Westboro Baptist Church.
But I'd be within bounds (in my eyes at least) if I question Christianity as a moral compass in the light of how organizations of Westboro Baptist Church gets to use it to spread hate.
I personally do not think it is controversial to state that Islam has a huge problem with extremism. But consider that the majority of victims of this extremism are other Muslims, and you might start to realize that not only is it wrong to apply this criticism to individuals indiscriminately, it is probably even pretty damn stupid and you risk making the problem even worse. Point the finger where it should be pointed and you might make quite a few useful friends and allies along the way.
Right now a lot of Muslim kids and teenagers are seeing that they'll be hated by a lot of people regardless of what they do. It won't create a huge impact, most people are peaceful through life, but it'll certainly make actual Islamic extremism just that tiny tad easier to spread.