Would you kill a child?

Ed Brayton says there is a double standard in how people judge Islam and Christianity. That is, criticism of Christianity is tolerated, while criticism of Islam frowned upon (or at least generalization). I put in two reasons why this is so on this comment boards, first, Islam is treated as a quasi-ethnic group, an identity you are born with (and Islamophobia occupies much the same mental slot as racism for many people). Second, Muslims are perceived by many on the Left to be part of the non-elite which may become part of their broad coalition against right-wing interests. But there is another issue lurking in the background, that is a Spenglerian assumption about the growth and development of civilizations. In short, Islam is perceived to be at an "earlier" stage and so must be shielded from the wanton criticism which Christianity is "naturally" subjected to by secularized elites, and has ...