Excerpt:
Robert Spencer, the publisher of Jihad Watch, has been a controversial figure in the blogosphere for some time now. Some liberal bloggers love to bash him, considering him racist against Muslims or Arabs.
Of course, almost none of those bloggers actually speak Arabic or know much of the intricacies of Islam and sharia law, all of which Robert does. Nor are they particularly interested in the ideas involved. Sharia may be one of the most misogynistic and homophobic legal systems ever invented, it may be at its essence antithetical to the separation of church and state and to everything we stand for, proselytizing the world while specifically subjugating all other religious groups and individuals who do not convert, but Spencer's critics don't seem to care. This isn't about knowledge or truth. It's about anger, envy, the need to be "right," and all the rest of those "attractive" traits that motivate so many of us.
Indeed, what fascinates me about the current controversy surrounding the World Trade Center mosque is how little most of the mosque's defenders actually seem to know about sharia. It's amusing to watch their blank stares on television when questioned about the the subject by Sean Hannity, himself not particularly a scholar, as we know.