@aral @carrideen well said/written. I also was raised in a secular Muslim household in Turkey and by 14 I was "agnostic" (read shy atheist) and by early 20's straight up atheist. Now almost 50, after seeing what islamists did to the country and the culture there, it drives me up the wall when I hear people say islamophobia here in the (supposedly) very liberal SF bay area. They think they are being open minded. Like you said, it is a stupid shield just like Russophobia.