On Nov 29, 2006, at 2:22 PM, Michael Pugliese wrote:
> But does Islamophobia really exist?
Well yeah, in some sense. Someone said to me a few years ago, "It [Islam] is really an awful religion," as if the others were so great. The restriction on headscarves in France is motivated by bigotry. When several Moslems were thrown off an airplane in the US last week because they were acting in a mysterious or allegedly threatening manner (i.e., praying), that was motivated by bigotry too. The EU's squeamishness about Turkey is largely about anti-Muslim prejudice. "Islamophobia" may be a vague word, but it's pedantry to deny widespread anti-Muslim feelings in the West.
Doug