Hmm... well I'm confused about what you intended with your response, then. To me, it seems like we are having a discussion about why this woman isn't a hero and why her insertion of her religion into political life is in fact a detriment to the country. Best I can tell, you respond with "well she's polite about it".…

lovely to take something out of context. Lovelier still to say something is totally wrong and then put no effort into explaining it. Not that you are forced to be civil or thorough. It's just an online pissing contest, I guess.

Um, no. We are talking about the fact that it is unconstitutional for a majority group to restrict the rights of a minority group. It might happen, but it is unconstitutional and will be challenged. This is different than making laws that restrict rights for the greater good. Now you are entering into elementary…

No, I won’t even give her that. She accepted to let all that ugliness into her life when she decided to become a public figure in the first place. I agree that she did a good thing here, but it's not at all heroic.

OK, first off, we aren’t arguing that no one has a right to their own viewpoints. We are arguing about whether or not she should be called a hero.

I think you should not make assumptions about what I get about democracy, especially with logic like that. A person’s religious beliefs cannot be used to restrict the rights of others. They are sometimes used that way in politics, and generally after a while, it goes to court and is eventually found unconstitutional.…

I don’t know how campaigning works in Oregon. Is she currently running now? I don’t know. Will she run again? I don’t know. I don’t see what difference than makes? She was asked about her political beliefs and answered within the context of running for office. She is also the head of the Republican Muslim Coalition-…

Look, that doesn’t make her a hero. That’s what so nuts about the article you wrote. She is not a hero for expecting her party to not be ignorant and racist. She is also not a hero for talking to you and answering your questions directly. She is a politician who told you what she thinks. Fine- that does not make her a…

Uggh, it's like my brain is exploding this morning, I'm so annoyed by this. It's like everyone has lost their minds just because this lady said one thing they agree with. YES, obviously Muslim Americans are just like everyone else. And that "everyone else" sometimes includes fundamentalist backward religious nuts who…

Um, no. She directly stated that her main reason for joining the Republican party was because she cannot reconcile her religious beliefs to the Democratic platform on abortion. Now, in case you aren’t keeping up, the Democratic platform on abortion DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE AN ABORTION. It requires you to NOT…

YES, exactly! Let's not be blindsided by the spiffy hijab here.

A million times, yes. And Reza Aslan manages to educate and advocate with nuance and intelligence, all the while without claiming that his religious beliefs give him the right to trample the civil liberties of others! Plus No God But God is an amazing book. I suggest it to people constantly.

No, that’s not true. Did you read the interview above? She is not just a Muslim woman stating her belief. That would be fine. She’s a politician running for public office who is anti-choice and anti-gay marriage BECAUSE of her religion. Seriously, is everyone here losing their minds? That means religion is the basis…

No, you miss the main point of offense. Fine, she’s pro-life. Whatever, she has the right to be. The reason that her particular brand of pro-life pro-traditional family values are DETRIMENTAL to the country is that they come from her religious beliefs. She says as much in this interview. She has every right to have…

I have mixed feelings about that. As a non-muslim, I think it’s totally offensive to women. Also, as a non-muslim, I think I probably don’t understand what it means to muslim women. But in any case, as a believer in civil liberties and democracy, I think muslim women have every right to wear it, to identify as muslim…

Pro-traditional families can mean anti-gay. It can also mean anti-contraceptive and anti-divorce. It’s a scary loaded term! Agree with you- not feeling the love AT ALL.

Can we be clear about the fact that this woman is NOT a hero to America? Seriously? An anti-choice pro-traditional family Republican who uses her religion as the base of her political and policy decisions? She basically just said that her Islam has led her to all the same conservative conclusions as right wing…

Yes, exactly. Upon calm reflection, he is nowhere near winning even the nomination, much less the presidency. YES our election system is fucked up, but he is a distraction- not the reason it is fucked up. He's not even really a good example of how our democracy doesn't work. He's just a good example of how our media…

I think we are already in it. We were on the brink when GW Bush was beating war drums and tens of millions of people marched in the streets in every developed country on the planet shouting about how an invasion of Iraq and an ongoing war on terror while continuing to fund the existing power structure would…

Like the plot of Dead Zone? Ha ha.