Pick any political issue, and the resulting debates tend to follow a script. Gobal warming? Israel? Abortion? It doesn't make any difference in that arguments tend towards the formulaic and polemic, one side setting up shop next to the goal post at one end and the other side setting up shop at the other, never the twain shall meet, with no compromise, and with platitudenous statements acting in place of rational analysis. Exaggeration elicits complete denial elicits more exaggeration.

Instead of this cycle of complete vilification and then knee-jerk apologia, what if people were to avail themselves to information OTHER than the various web sites they peruse, or rely on something more than anecdotal suppositions?

There are several opinion polls out there published by reputable people revealing what Muslims actually think. I think the reading of a few of these polls would be helpful for those indulging in denial as well as those indulging in exaggeration.