for all the things that I’ve seen, that I would like very much to unsee, I would have a big old stack of dollar bills.

But I never turn away. I never decide something is too disgusting to see or look at, though at times the things I’ve seen have left me on my hands and knees retching. Trust me when i say, there are a lot of things I wish I hadn’t seen.

So when i say Islam is a toxic ideology, and that it is inherently evil, it is not because I’m a Catholic (incidentally, I’m not, technically) and hate islam. it isn’t because I’m a christian and think muslims are poopy heads. It is because I have opened my eyes and stared at the beast. I have opened my eyes and stared at a lot of things, and here are a few of the things I know. The Catholic Church is loaded up with knuckleheads, and idiots, and a few genuinely evil people. Catholicism, on the other hand, is just fine. I’m not sure it is what people think it is, but what it really is, the church that Jesus himself began, is just fine. Protestants are also armpit deep in knuckleheads, and a few genuinely evil people, but for the most part, they are some damned fine people I am proud to call my friends and family. Republicans are for the most part dumbasses who are as harmful to true conservatism as democrats. george Bush was one of the (fiscally) worst presidents we ever had. And while I think he’s a fine human he was, in many ways, a dismal president (though he took the battle TO the enemy, instead of allowing them to bring it here; he gets a LOT of good points in my book for just that) I don’t have blinders. I work VERY hard not to have illusions. I do my level best to stare at everything I see with eyes wide open and see it for what it really is, be it an individual, a theology, a car, a tv show, a president. I’m not always perfect, but I think I do a pretty good job.

On the issue of Islam, my position relies not on feelings, or my christian beliefs, or my political beliefs, but on a hard, deep stare at the heart of the situation. And I’m convinced that anyone not a fool who looks at Islam with eyes open will see the exact same thing. And I’m utterly unafraid to expose the facts at my disposal to the most careful scrutiny. In fact I welcome anyone who can bring anything contradictory forward.

No, I’m not happy that I’ve seen such nastiness with my own eyes. But I looked, and did not look away, so I did not become Neville Chamberlain,anxious to cut a deal with the devil to mitigate the harm I would incur, only to have the devil turn on me and bite me anyway. For that is the position of all apologists for islam. ‘They’re not so bad’. yes, they are. ‘They’re no different than other religions” yes, they are. And they continue to prove this, and it gets worse every day.

I’m not telling anyone to go out and grab the pitchforks and torches. I just want everyone to KNOW. And understand what needs to be done when the time comes. I’m not interested in harming a hair on any muslims head. But trust me, I will, before it is done to me.