Charlie Hebdo murder(s)

It is worth remembering that Islam is a religion, not a race. How do we balance freedom of religion while protecting the citizenry? That's a tough one, and always has been. The early liberal philosophers (e.g. Locke, Rousseau) spoke about the struggle between human rights and security, so this isn't a new thing.Do we go beyond punishing actions and legislate against a religion? I don't think that would work, in the US or in the UK. I wish there was an easy answer, but I don't think there is.

The evangelical persecution complex is alive and well:

quote:

---

Persecution has an allure for many evangelicals. In the Bible, Christians are promised by Saint Paul that they will suffer for Christ, if they love Him (Second Timothy 3:12). But especially in contemporary America, it is not clear what shape that suffering will take. Narratives of political, cultural, and theological oppression are popular in evangelical communities, but these are sometimes fiction or deeply exaggerated non-fictionand only rarely accurate. This is problematic: If evangelicals want to have a persuasive voice in a pluralist society, a voice that can defend Christians from serious persecution, then we must be able to discern accurately when we are truly victims of oppressionand when this victimization is only imagined.
The Evangelical Persecution Complex - The Atlantic

---

I guess you forgot that freedom of religious expression is one of the cornerstones of humanistic principles.

I have had that feeling as well, and in my very fallible and emotionally driven human mind it can mix up religion and race. I definitely get where you are coming from. Tribalism, xenophobia, othering . . . it goes by a lot of names.

This isn't meant to excuse anyone from heinous acts, but . . .We should also keep in mind the crimes the West has visited upon the Islamic world. None of us are innocent or perfect, and no culture is without sin.