I thought it was common knowledge. Apparently TX isn't the only place where Jefferson's been removed from school discussions of Enlightenment thinkers.

Yeah, I'm sure bin Laden supports it. On the other hand, since he was living in a country that stoned people for being non-Muslim when he attacked the US, a country that had just months earlier made clear that the government of the nation where he lived was their own business, his case for American tyranny is pathetically weak. That's even if we decide it's OK to read Jefferson as a theocrat, though I certainly HOPE you know better than that.

I believe you'll find that I'm just as quick to condemn Christians murdering innocent women and children. I tend to take the view of the rational mullahs who are in the majority: Their actions deny their professed faith. I have some fudamental and strong disagreements with Islamic doctrine, but that doesn't make me automatically suspicious of all Muslims. However, I don't think it's particularly bigoted to be suspicious of Islamic terrorists, and if Fred Phelps disturbs me less, it's only because he hasn't (to my knowledge) murdered anyone. I understand the Israel/Palestine conflict pretty well, but I looking at it closely is, once again, pointless and painful, so I concede I don't do it often. There's seldom much actual news there anyway, just "same , different day"....