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Howard Dean: ‘I’m Uncomfortable Focusing on Radical Islam’… – Howard Dean – Fox Nation

Howard Dean: ‘I’m Uncomfortable Focusing on Radical Islam’… – Howard Dean – Fox Nation. I’m a little uncomfortable focusing on the notion of ‘radical Islam’ because the truth is radical anything is what’s bad, and people who use violence.… What radicals do is they polarize people to get this kind of reaction. … Intolerance breeds intolerance. And we can’t fight intolerance with intolerance. … The radicals that are targeting us are in fact bigoted, misogynist, and intolerant. And if we respond that way, they’ve won. I’m not gonna give up what America believes in because different individuals happen to belong…

Politics and Kids Cartoons

Maybe I’m more aware of this now that I have kids, but do politicians always sound like kids’ cartoons? In the movie Beauty and the Beast, the character Gaston says “you’re either with us or against us.” Sarah Palin sounds like the squirrel from Higglytown Heroes, ya betcha. And of course, Barack Obama channels Bob the Builder with “Yes we can.” Election 2008, kids shows

Quote: Religion in the American Public Sphere

What would happen if religious ideas were subjected to such a debate? I want to conclude with some speculations. A robust, critical discussion of religious ideas might encourage popular faiths more consistent with modern standards of plausibility, more conscious of the historicity of all faiths, and more resistant to the manipulation of politicians belonging to any party.  The long moratorium on sustained, public scrutiny of religious ideas has created a vacuum in which easy god-talk flourishes. Religion has no monopoly on foolishness and ignorance, but our convention of giving religious ideas a “pass” has made religion a privileged domain for wackiness…