[dpark]

> I think we have been arguing at cross-purposes.

It seems that way.

> It seems now that you are arguing that "ISIS's interpretation isn't necessarily invalid just because moderate Muslims say it is".

Essentially, yes. It's hard to say that someone is right in their religious interpretation, based just on how much disagreement there is, but that's not the same as saying all interpretations are equally valid.

If someone claims that Jesus commanded his followers to kill nonbelievers, that's a pretty problematic interpretation of the Bible. On the other hand, if one person says Jesus established the system of popes and another person disagrees, it's really difficult to that one of these interpretations is objectively better, even though the difference in interpretation is pretty significant.

> If that is your point, then I agree with you and I apologize for the misunderstanding.

No apologies necessary. You made a civil response to my comment and (we thought) we disagreed. If only all discussions online were like this. :)