On the pacifist issue and the current American policy... someone sent me a newsletter looking at ISLAM. I'll quote from it then comment..
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Islam As A Philosophy by Bryan Hupperts

"Nazism was as much a spiritual movement as it was a political philosophy, yet no one has a problem labeling these goose-stepping, brown shirted goons as ‘bad guys.’ And what did the Nazis believe? They believed in world domination, in the eradication of a specific group of people, specifically the Jews, that it was either "Submission to their way of thinking," .. or death!

"Submission. Oh yeah, that’s what the word Islam means. Anyway, we quote the horrible historical statistic that the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews, while forgetting that they also murdered 4 million Gentiles (mostly Christians). While cloaked under a false spiritual guise misusing the name "Christian," they were in fact a spiritual and political philosophy devoted to world domination.

"Quit thinking in terms of tolerance for a moment. Thank God our national leaders during World War II weren’t concerned with being tolerant or we would all be speaking German, Russian, or Japanese! Forget Islam as one of the world’s ‘great religions’, and think of it as a political and spiritual philosophy. Now, if Islam really means ‘peace,’ explain this:

"Muslims are bent on destroying Israel and her allies (meaning they want to exterminate the Jews). So were the Nazis. Muslims also believe that their beliefs need to be exported to the whole world and all people brought under their domination. The Nazis didn’t invade Poland and France for the water! Muslims also believe it is perfectly acceptable to kill non-believers, or to lie to further the cause of ‘jihad’ (holy war). Further, they applaud when their own children are sacrificed ‘in the flames’ of suicide bombings. Come to think of it, so did the Nazis."

There is much about Bryan's argument that is convincing, and of course I haven't included the entire letter here, but there is also much about his position that bothers me.

First, much of his argument applies equally well to fundamentalist Christians. Let's face it, there are hundreds of thousands of American Christians who are quite ready to go to war in the name of Jesus. How are these so different from the Islamic fundamentalists?

Second, his argument paints all Muslims as equally guilty by association with their religion. This simply isn't accurate. It may be politically useful to paint all Muslims as Nazis or as warmongers filled with hate, but it simply is not the reality. When we divide the world into black and white we inevitably leave out a lot of data that doesn't fit our paradigm.

Let's take it from the other side. Currently Bin Laden paints all those in the west as hateful, irreligious, immoral warmongers. Is this accurate? Of course not. There are many who pray for peace, and who do not see imperialism as a good thing. Bin Laden sees America as a Christian nation. Is this accurate? Of course not. Canada and America are secular states, Canada more so.

In the end, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the separation of church and state are worth preserving. Muslim's have a right to their beliefs and demonizing them as a group doesn't move toward dialogue or understanding.

I read Bin Laden's letter at the Observer. There is much distortion in it. But what surprised me were the points where I sympathized.