To be honest I'm not sure I get this... I think I agree with Host on this one...?
I don't really know where I am going with this, trying to leave my personal feelings on the whole Islamic issue out of the discussion, even though that in of itself might be missing the point. At any rate this topic is surely a hot button issue.
Lets see if I am even ball park with where you are going with this Host...
I don't get why "criticism" of Islam (specifically due to the context of this post) would not be permitted. All the acts of violence are real, the Rushdie/Satanic verses fiasco was real, Theo Van Gogh did get clipped because he spoke out against treatment of women in Islamic culture...
It's not like this stuff is being falsified. Trying to be objective and taking it with a grain of salt, but a lot of messed up shit happens in that religion, the level of unnecessary violence is exponential compared to that of any other religion. I'm sure its not always religion specific, I'm sure there are cultural factors outside of Islam at play, even various political factors. Still the bottom line is I don't need to go to
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/ to give me examples of the reality of the state of Islam in the modern world, reading the news will suffice. You have to be naive to honestly chalk it all up to coincidence and not see alot of this stuff for what it truly is. Oh and guess what it doesn't make you racist or xenophobic for saying as much.
This seems like one of those issues of political correctness. Guess what, I'm not sorry if the truth offends you, deal with it. Host you shouldn't apologize if this puts people at discomfort. You are not being uncivil, I think you are bringing up a valid argument, it's people's own damn fault if they can't deal with it.
Why would you even consider apologizing for bringing this up? It seems pathetic you did, even more pathetic that you felt compelled and even considered it in the first place (I'm not saying that as an attack against you Host).
I really hope I am even remotely in the realm of what you wanted to discuss as this is the first time I actually read one of your entire articles, not just the highlighted areas. If not I apologize for wasting your time, it's 5am and I can't sleep.