So many are afraid to call an islamic terrorist an islamic terrorist - or even mention religion as a source of ideological justification for violence. People - and media especially - recoil from being called an islamaphobe or a racist.
What race is a muslim, anyway?
Related, but digressing, the best answer to the academic/intellectual terrorism espoused in Edward Said's "Orientalism" is
Ibn Warraq's "Defending the West." Started this over the weekend and I'm impressed with how succinctly Warraq shuts down Said's psycho babble.
If you want to shut down the "your quoting out of context" argument (based on the fact you're not reading it in the original arabic) get a copy of
Ibn Warraq's "Leaving Islam." Read Appendix A, pages 400-404. Shuts that down cold.
I've found some of the most credible people on this subject are the apostates who are willing to speak out - particularly Warraq and
Brigitte Gabriel* ("Because They Hate" and "Why They Must be Stopped"). Think about it. They've known the religion up close and personal. they've lived it. They know the penalty for leaving islam is death - yet they bravely risk themselves (and their families) for what is right.
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*
http://www.actforamerica.org/index.p...out-ms-gabriel