Murdoch, Rowling both wrong

Rupert Murdoch threw a grenade. J.K. Rowling caught it in midair and lobbed it back. The explosionin the battlefield of social mediainjured the truth.

Murdoch, the conservative media magnate, never afraid to ruffle liberal feathers, tweeted that Muslims “must be held responsible” for “their growing jihadist cancer.”

Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible.

Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, deployed her rhetorical mastery. “I was born Christian,” she tweeted back. “If that makes Rupert Murdoch my responsibility, I’ll auto-excommunicate.” At last count, more than 20,000 people had re-tweeted her.

I was born Christian. If that makes Rupert Murdoch my responsibility, I'll auto-excommunicate. http://t.co/Atw1wNk8UX

But don’t deny the truth: There is a dangerous problem within Islam that must be addressed by Muslims with the support of the rest of the world. Both extremes in this discussion have it wrong, and by perpetuating their distortions they harm efforts to protect tolerance from the intolerant; to make the world safe for Muslims and non-Muslims — for everyone, including those lobbing grenades backs and forth in social media.

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