if we cannot be honest about this.
If others do not hold your opinion, do you believe it is dishonesty? Or do you allow the possibility that there is more than one possibility? For instance, your opinion, my opinion and the opinion of everyone else on the planet.
I, like you, have been engaging in this discussion hoping you would stop seeing in such black and white terms. But I recognize I have a problem with trying to get people who think in black and white terms to see the gray areas. I have to start working on it. Rather than waste hours on telling someone that they would learn from reading Martin Lings' biography of the Prophet. Or that they have a psychological vision problem because despite their ideas about Islam being the problem...they have no real relationships with Muslims. All the relationships with Muslims exist in their head.
Except me.... I am a Muslim. So you have met someone who you believe is dishonest with herself, doesn't understand her own religion, etc, and you believe you know more than anyone else in the Muslim world what is happening and going to happen. I hope this isn't coming across snarky or b*%#@y. I don't mean it that way. I just mean that I am saying goodbye.
I'm going to have to break up with you here, no victim. We have had a few dates. :) And I can see neither of us is spending our time productively here. We are serving our own egos and nothing more. You know what I mean?
I know you mean well. I know there are issues with Islam. But don't get so obsessed with what you believe Islam is doing to the world that you miss all the other causes of violence, slavery, human trafficking, abuse, oppression, lack of ethics, etc, in the world.
And its time for me to get back to focusing on engaging in activism. Perhaps we'll stay in touch, but staying on this discussion just keeps us both wasting precious hours we will never get back.
I have seen American Muslims make a secular Islam that is beautiful and maybe if you met some of these Muslims, you wouldn't be so certain of tomorrow's doom. Or maybe... maybe... maybe... you should stop talking to Muslims... and start listening to us.
Not to the terrorist on TV, but strike up conversations with us. Ask us what we're like. Don't tell us.