Religious extremism

I posted this as a note on facebook first, but it had such success in creating a debate (admittedly only between three people thus far, but still good stuff) that I thought I would post it here. It is not profound insight, merely the result of deep my frustration approaching anger towards radical Muslims/Islamists who utilize the freedoms of liberal democracies to promote hateful, misogynistic drivel:

It concerns me greatly that these people preach such ridiculous and dangerous drivel in this country, yet would probably be banned from doing so in their own country of origin. Ah, the wonders of free speech. They take advantage of that right, yet if their model society came into being, such a liberty would vanish in an instant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/world/europe/06hizb.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

These people have to be challenged and fought (hopefully with rhetoric and the law first) so that their ideas do not reach any more of the populace and poison any more minds. I am sick of these kinds of calls to destroy secular society/societies and impose a backward, misogynistic ideology. (Note that in the article the speaker did not say he was against the idea of imposing a Sharia-based caliphate in Britain, just claimed he would focus first on areas that would achieve the fastest results - i.e., the Middle East.)


*The photo comes from a piece by Christopher Hitchens in a recent issue of Vanity Fair.