On 21/02/2008, Dan Rosenthal swatjester@gmail.com wrote:
beliefs. It is, in my opinion, not possible for people to say "Muslims believe X". Which muslims? Which sect? In which country? The clerics? What about the population at large? Is there opposition? No, it's impossible to speak for all Muslims on this issue, and to do so is frankly absurd.
Be careful about taking this too far, seductive though the logic is.
The existence of exceptions does not make it unreasonable to conclude that there is a widespread and significant level of support for the position, even if its speakers generally overdo it by saying "all Muslims" - it is quite possible for it to be not *all* Muslims and still a staggeringly large number of people!