Me: They have no choice. If progressives do not learn how to fight back, they will disappear. Their survival depends on taking control of the conversation. They have fallen way behind and have to catch up. They can do it if they really want, but the time to act is now. Time is running out.

The first step on the road to recovery is to stop pretending that they have anything in common with fundamentalists. They share the same name of their faith, but hold little else in common.

Second, they have to stop the charade of pretending that fundamentalists wish them well and they have a slight disagreement in the family of faith. This viewpoint is delusional. It is why liberals lose.

Time to get tough or perish. Then, we will have nothing but fundamentalism and Jason’s statement will be quite true.

I think the pitfalls of moderate and liberal religion come in because they’re perceived by conservatives (and this is aired publicly) as watered down versions of the real thing. So what happens is that the fundamentalist versions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are sold as the true versions of the faith. The solution is for the progressive arms of those faiths to somehow take control of that conversation, and that’s a long road ahead before that ever happens.

Me: I don’t agree with that. While I am not religious, I deal with people every day who are people of faith who are both free and peaceful. I think the problem you are referring too is an outgrowth of fundamentalism. Wherever we see fundamentalist we see oppression and violence.

I think it is a leap to say that non-fundamentalist religions that teach peace and love will lead to violence and bigotry. I don’t see how this is a logical leap. It matters what is taught in each religion, not the fact they are religions.