Edited sentence: About charges of "bigotry" and "hatred" from Ernst  and others he says: "It is not an act of hatred against Muslims to point out the depredations of jihad ideology.And I think that those who make the charge know better in any case: they use the charge as a tool to frighten the credulous and politically correct away from the truth.He has also said "It is amusing to me that some people like to focus on my credentials, when I have never made a secret of the fact that most of what I know about Islam comes from personal study.He says: "I present the work not on the basis of my credentials, but on the basis of the evidence I bring forth; evaluate it for yourself.I would, of course, be happy to debate Carl Ernst or any other scholar of Islam about Islam and jihad; this is a standing invitation.In response to criticism, Spencer claims that none of his critics have managed to substantiate their claims of inaccuracy in his work, but content themselves with broad and vague accusations.It is a peculiar species of displacement and projection to accuse someone who exposes the hatred of one group of hatred himself: I believe in the equality of rights and dignity of all people, and that is why I oppose the global jihad.It is easier for them to talk about degrees than to find any inaccuracy in my work.One example: after I spoke at the University of North Carolina, Professor Carl Ernst of the university wrote a piece about me warning that my books were non-scholarly and were published by presses that he believed reflected a political agenda of which he did not approve.Spencer has criticized academics at his web site writing that he opted not to enter any PhD program because he "could see [in 1986] that Middle East Studies and other departments were becoming highly politicized and retreating from genuine academic work".That kind of approach may impress some people, but Carl Ernst did not and cannot bring forth even a single example of a supposed inaccuracy in my work.Yet I present the work not on the basis of my credentials, but on the basis of the evidence I bring forth; evaluate it for yourself