armidalm, I would like to share your optimism. The one problem is that humans have a disturbing tendancy to listen to people who claim to speak for god rather than ordinary human who merely offer ideas about inherently ambiguous and arguably unknowable (in life anyway) spiritual truths. Note for example how agnostics are derided by atheists and believers alike.

I am not for seeing issues in black and white, but the unavoidable reality is that virtual all religions cast themself in absolute terms. The Qur'an says submit to Allah's will as revealed through Mohammed or go to Hell. Christinaity and other religions are exactly the same in having unwavering spiritual laws. There is no equivocation in religion I would argue, only in the minds of its adherents. I'm glad people are a bit lax, even hypocritical when it comes to faith, but to pretend that religions are inherently moderate is at best wishful thinking and at worst deliberate obfuscation.

A critical comment about Islam at Salon virtually guarantees that words like "hate," "racist" and "Islamophobe" will get sent one's way. The factual substance and nuance of your argument does not matter, which is why I do not use my full name. There is a certain kind of leftist mentality that simply will not accept any critical analysis of non-Western ideas or groups. The virulence and immaturity it entails makes it the leftist equivalent of the Sean Hannity-esque, 'why do you hate freedom/America so much' right-wing rhetoric.

Then come the accusations that I am some other reader who happens to take a similar position (usually "GoldenBoy" in my case). MnKat, Phoenix Woman, KStone, and funnily enough someone named "Anon" have all falsely accused me (sometimes veiled as 'speculation') of posting under different (non-anonymous) names. I've noticed that anonymous posting makes it harder for people to pull this dirty trick because they can't sew a malicious seed of doubt as easily without a screenname to target.

I accept all this and in no way want to silence these people, but it wears a bit thin after awhile. Sometimes posting anonymously just allows me to take a breather from these personal attacks, because I can let them pass without feeling the need to defending the honour as it were of my screen name.

Poker is something that bored me beyond description in my limited experience with it, and while the idea that things change is of course blasé, this article looked at it in an engaging and interesting fashion in my opinion (and a reminded me as I sometimes need that not all traditional ways are bad).