nebulae wrote:Thanks much. I think the last few weeks have shown how well the Danes do with Muslims, so I appreciate the lecture. DOH!

Hehe. Well. Yes. I don't write for Jyllands-Posten or any other islamophobic publication... I do study Arabic Language and Culture at the University of Copenhagen, though...
All slams aside, growing up as in a Muslim household has left me with a very strange view of Islam. On one hand, there are a lot of cool things about the religion. On the other, the fanatics have bastardized the religion into some really disgusting ways, like treatment of women, and the whole idea of killing in the name of Allah. (WTF?)
Ain't that the truth... It's hard for me to see how Rumi, Yunus Emre, and all the classical scholars have anything to do with Hizb ut-Tahrir, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and their ilk (Have you ever read any of Hamas' publications? It's utterly, utterly insane - bordering on David Icke Lizardmen conspiracies). There are a lot of problems with Islam and a lot of beauty in it as well.
(So it's like every other religion I've ever heard or read about, then)
As for Jihad, I use that term in as many ludicrious ways I can. It's a silly word, and in fact a total oxymoron, as there is NO such thing as a righteous or holy war. There's murder, and then there's polically-sanctioned murder. But at the end of the day, it's still killing, and anyone who does it is still going straight to hell.
I'm not sure we disagree, really, war is hell. It's horrible. But I'm afraid it will happen and it will HAVE to happen from time. There's a verse in the Qur'an I think is rather elegant:
2:190 Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loveth not transgressors.
I hope that makes sense.