A Simple Rule

[Mister Agenda]

I certainly dont think all muslims are the same, or that they are all equally to blame. Of course not. The moderates are infinitely nicer people and offer no threat of their own. My stance is just that they act as a barrier to communication, as described much better by Sam in the video above. They validate the very idea of religion, making it an acceptable delusion rather than an insane superstition. I don't advocate any action towards them at all, just for them to consider whether their weak-sauce religious version is worth the shielding of the fundies. I understand some people don't think this is a thing, but I certainly feel it is.

I often hear the notion expressed that the 'moderates' have something to do with abetting the behavior of the 'fundamentalists'. What exactly is the imagined scenario if the moderates weren't there?

I think it's more the case that people gravitate into or out of fundamentalism or moderation based on their own predispositions. Without the moderates, you'd just have the people who used to be moderates divided into fundamantalists and not-at-alls, with no-man's-land between.

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Indoctrinated takes it too far in my opinion. Just look at rural environments in our countries. Religion is a tradition there. And it's even more so in Islamic countries which are for the most parts less developed, former colonies and have less of a broader education. Some have the same living standards as they had when they were still part of the Osman empire. Many can't even read or write when it comes to remote regions and owning a few sheep is as far as they will climb the social ladder. God is the only constant in their lives.

To indoctrinate someone is to teach them to accept a set of beliefs uncritically. That is how I meant it.