We're accused of homophobia, or anti-Semitism, etc.

It is important to have the freedom to make criticisms of things that you feel are deserving of criticism. It is also true that such situations can shade into prejudice. You yourself may have felt on the receiving end of this at times; so you will know what it is like to be misrepresented and the importance of fairness in critique and how to avoid creating hatred against another group.

In moral issues, one cause of bitter division is the fact that different people will be working from different baselines and different frameworks. Someone who is not Muslim probably won't accept a passage from the Qur'an as justification for a moral condemnation. You might not accept their moral justifications for things either. So you might never agree on this issue; but if you want to create understanding where you don't have agreement, you will need to accept that your point of view will need more explaining than you might ordinarily need to give. You also need to know when to stop – in this situation, it is best to stop when you are understood. Don't think you should keep talking until you have defeated them in argument, or convinced them you are right – that might never happen.

You need to give thought to what is just and unjust in making your points. Two areas you should focus your attention on:

- Are you fair and even-handed, or ar you judging them in a way you don't judge your own group?
- The way that you express it. Do you slide from criticising a specific action to condemning a whole group, or seeing that action as 'characteristic' of the group?

See a discussion of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.