Newsweek and the Washington Post have a little website thing called "On Faith" where they hope to provide some insight into the worlds religions, in an attempt to help us all better understand each other. This week has been all about clearing up some confusion when it comes to Islam and how the west might be confused about some aspects of it:

"On Faith" and Georgetown University asked dozens of the world's leading scholars to discuss Islam's view of violence, human rights and other religions in "Muslims Speak Out." The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life provided analysis of public opinion surveys.

[ On Faith: Muslims Speak Out ]

The good part is the commentary by Islamic scholars from around the globe. I find most of the experts to be on the mark with my understanding, and the understanding of any of my fellow Muslims that I've ever discussed these things with. If there are a good number of people who read this site, and take these opinions to heart, perhaps we can begin to mend the vast rift of misunderstanding between the communities of the world. However...

The bad part is the threaded discussions that allow any and all make comments, this clearly includes vile, evil, bigoted, hate mongers. It's rather hard for me to read the comment threads without getting quite upset. There appears to be a few people, so filled with hate, that they have nothing better to do than try and spread it through the comments. This was an honest set of questions answered by prominent scholars in an honest way only to have a torrent of hate tossed there way. There are a few who try and dispel this wave of hate, and who praise the scholars for their time and honesty, but I can only hope that those invited to share don't come back to read the comments for it truly shows the worst of us all.