See (Part Duh plus one)?

Islam is a ridiculous religion, and the so-called 'prophet' smoked dope and had sex with coconuts.

Okay, I don't believe any of that, but I should be free to say it. Why? Because by knocking down my false statements, truth is made stronger. That is the premise behind freedom of speech. "Say anything you want, and if what you say is false, we will prove it, and in the process make ourselves stronger for undertaking the proof." I'm sure John Mill said something along these lines only way more eloquent.

So, how to respond to the statement above? Well, the Western way would be to ask for evidence of prophetic dope smoking and coconut sex. There, of course, is none. Mark one in your column. Next, you'd ask "Ridiculous by what standard? Because it is not science? Science is the weaker of the two sisters, theology and natural science. That's no measure. 'Ridiculous' because it is different from your Christianity? Well, of course it is, otherwise it would be Christianity." Anyway, blah blah blah. So, that's the Western appraoch to such issues, fueled as it is of course by 2000 years of Church insistence on the primacy of reason.

Uh oh, however. That is not the only possible response. Here's another:



This, my friends, is why Islam and the West cannot be reconciled. And this, my friends, is also why the West is superior to Islam. And this, my friends, is why there is soon going to be a very long and very bitter and bloody global war. Let's pray we prevail.