I can appreciate the racial attitudes of the 2000’s, especially in light of the 9/11 attacks - what I can't tolerate is the use of a post-9/11 racial environment being used to shame and silence legitimate discussion of the religion, on whole - especially in light of the power that accusations of racism hold in modern discourse.

People are abusing the race/culture discussion to avoid having to own up to an ideology that genuinely advocates violence, and implying that criticisms of the faith are fuelled by ignorance, in hope of poisoning the well against detractors.

And I'm sorry, but individual Muslim do hold obligation, here. The doctrines of Islam very specifically call for violent actions on the parts of followers, and as I'd addressed, while the average Muslim is on par with the average Christian in that they pick and choose the less violent aspects of their faith, they serve witness for the fanatics. The profess the whole of the Holy Word is true, the claim allegiance to the doctrine, and the pass the Word along to others, as mandated.

And that word reaches fanatics, who look at all of their allies, and all of the people saying the Koran is true, and moral law. And they see where they are told to kill, and they kill (and honestly so) in the name of their peers, and their deity.

Which is the rub. Even if what the average Muslim believes is the 'good parts' of the Koran, they are advocated of the whole of the word, and the consequence of passing on the whole of the word is a capacity for enabling murderers.

I'll give that the treatment of Muslim in America for cheap political points is shameful, and that unfortunately doesn't excuse the use of religiocultural baggage to silence people - if anything, it would suggest the behaviour is even more shameful, in that they're exploiting others in the same fashion by which they've been exploited, themselves.