BoH, I'm not trying to drum Sam out of the forum, but to reach some kind of agreement.
Although maybe I could drum myself out of the forum.
Anyway - there's the temptation to say "no, that was bad, that wasn't islamic", but at the same time there is that element of islam to it. Dhimmis are dhimmis because the Quran says so. Apostates are murdered because it's in al-Buhkari, Dayud and a couple others (and arguably in Sura 2). There's good as well, of course; but I can't deny either that homophobia is and has been in Christianity; sexism too. Isn't it better to admit it (the admission of less-than-perfection being the issue around which all objection to reform in islam stems, since it seeks to emulate that uswa hasana, that insan-al-kamil perfect-type chap, Mo) and change it than to deny it? Or even to just admit it? Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, they say. Let's hope there exists some courage for that first step.