I read every post of this thread & appreciated all. Islam is a Total System of Control (Islam means Submission), but, if you seem to be unable to make headway with the bleeding hearts & bedwetters who use "America Stands for Freedom of Religion" as their trump card answer to me, Billt & the rest of us, consider my rationale, my view of Islam.....
Look only to every commercial airport worldwide: every single time every person traveling has to take off his shoes, belt, cell phone--divest himself of all metals, fluids, etc, pass through security, submit to low-level xrays, get to the airport an hour earlier--every extra dollar devoted to airport/airplane security, no standing in plane isles, not being able to use the forward head on some flights--EVERY ASPECT OF MODERN AIR TRAVEL, BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL!!!!!.....
Ask yourself, given the above, is there ONE single ENTITY whose very existence has caused all the civilized peoples of the earth to spend hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars every year, tens of millions of wasted man-hours, hugely ramped-up anxiety while traveling, essentially DESTROYING the pleasure many used to take in the act of 'getting away from it all.' ?
Yes! There IS ONE single ENTITY that the entire WORLD must concern itself with, by screening everything related to air travel, spending BILLIONS of our treasure yearly!
That entity is RADICAL ISLAM. And, since one cannot identify a 'peaceful muslim' from one meaning to do the world harm, we have had to take proactive measures to screen the entire traveling public.
I will apologize to this Forum if you can name for me the last time anyone on earth, boarding a commercial jet, was worried about a hijacking by the Methodists, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, the KKK, Daughters of the American Revolution, Shintoists, the IRA, well...you get the idea.
There's my (somewhat windy) answer. You can now discount any argument thrown up against your disdain of Islam, because the world does not have to shield itself against ANY entity OTHER than ISLAM.
Oh, you say, it's only a few radicalized terrorists who are the problem, not all the peace-loving Muslims. Sorry, wrong again! A study showed that over 10% of American Muslims believe it OK to use terror bombings (are there other kinds?) to achieve Islamic goals. And because their silence is deafening, any non-radicalized Muslims cannot be practically screened away from the BG's.
I believe in freedom of religion. But Islam doesn't fit the definition, and our political correctness will destroy us. We, in the USA, are essentially the last stronghold, the last hope (once again) of the civilized world, against world domination by Islam.
Why do they get away with rioting for their cause in Spain, Netherlands, Britain, Denmark? Why don't they riot here in the USA? I believe it is not primarily because of our well-equipped police departments, or the numerical deficiency of radical Muslims in America. I believe, fundamentally, that it is because we are the last nation of FREE peoples ARMED TO THE TEETH, and, should it ever come down to it, we will not submit, and we will not go quietly into the night.
--Sorry about all the caps...wasn't shouting, just emphasizing.