Esamy's Line in the sand

Sand in your face

My first reaction to Dean Esmay's "Line in the Sand" doctrine was that he was just a bit too full of himself.  This is meant for front-page contributors, submitters, or even commenters. It is time for you to make a choice, and to live by that choice. Because I certainly intend to. Simply put, you must agree with all of the following assertions:     1) Islam does not represent the forces of Satan or the Anti-Christ bent on destruction of the Christian world.     2) There is no 1,400 year old "war with the West/Christianity" being waged by Muslims or anyone else.     3) Islam as a religion is no more inherently incompatible with modernity, minority rights, women's rights, or democratic pluralism than most religions.     4) Medieval, anachronistic, obscure terms like "dhimmitude" or "taqiyya" are suitable for polite intellectual discussion. They are not and never will be appropriate to slap in the face of everyday Muslims or their friends.     5) Muslims have no more need to prove that they can be good Americans, loyal citizens, decent people, or enemies of terrorism than anyone else does I have a lot of respect for Dean, but am not a daily reader of his blog so I don't know what precipitated this.  The key phrase is "everyday Muslims or their friends."   Let's stipulate that there are "good Muslims," and lots of them.  Let's also stipulate that radical Islamofascists have openly declared war against non-Muslims, have stated their goal of making Islam the world religion, the only religion, and have attacked us at home and abroad.   We are at war with that faction of Islam, and to the best of my knowledge Dean accepts that.  War. My stance on this matter will be best summed up by reiterating that the only decent thing Earl Warren ever did in his life was oversee the internment of Japanese during WWII.  It's possible that 100% of them were rock solid in their allegiance to the United States, but we were at war, fighting for our very existence as a free nation. War. Sorry Dean. War is not pretty, and knows no rules. You win it at all cost, and pay reparations where they're deserved afterwards.