Is Islam a threat to the West?

[Antonio the Sixth]

No, of course not, but some muslims are (a quite small minority overall).

[Antonio the Sixth]

If we are going to assign blame for our problems to a religion, it ought to be Christianity.  Christians commit far more crimes in the US every year than Muslims.  But that's stupid.

Big difference though, they don't commit the crimes in the name of their religion.

Many did in the past, and some do today. Any religion had crimes committed in its name.

[Antonio the Sixth]

If we are going to assign blame for our problems to a religion, it ought to be Christianity.  Christians commit far more crimes in the US every year than Muslims.  But that's stupid.

Big difference though, they don't commit the crimes in the name of their religion.

Many did in the past, and some do today. Any religion had crimes committed in its name.

The past is irrelevant to the current discussion. Yes, crimes were committed in the name of Christianity, and yes, they were awful terrible crimes, but that in no way justifies or explains what is going on today.

The past is relevant. Not to justify anything (that sounds like a strawman), but to understand that killing people in the name of a religion is pretty commonplace and certainly not a muslim specificity.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Historically, sure, but not presently.  How long do the rest of us have to wait before it's ok to say it's a bad thing to do now?

Strawman again. It's pretty annoying to have to discuss that way each time we talk about certain subjects.

It's always been a bad thing and it has never been the point.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So, what do you want to demonstrate by saying Islam has more people killed in its name today ? There are many economical, sociological and geopolitical factor that could explain that, and I don't know where you'd find any ideological explanation which is inherent to Islam.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I want to demonstrate that more people are killed in the name of Islam today than any other religion...by a long shot.  Just reading you admit that is a win in my book.

Oh, so reading that I admit something I never denied is a win in your book ? Funny.

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All geographical areas are different both sociologically, economically and politically. You seem to view the "Third World" as a coherent block with similar characteristics. I'm not saying poverty => terrorism. I'm saying a complicated intrication of several complicated factors could explain terrrorism as another could explain the crusades or the inquisition. Human sciences can help finding answers to these questions, but certainly not prejudices and easy ideological shortcuts.

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You still fail to demonstrate how Islam is in any way tied with terrorism. Yes, there is a correlation, and so ? I think you know statistics well enough to understand a mere correlation means nothing. So, congratulations, you proved that "a large number of them are doing horrible things in the name of their religion", and that's alll. You can't draw any conclusion from that.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Not really, but its followers certainly are.

I'm hesitating between "LOL" and "sigh".