Islam: A Culture Fighting Itself

Echoing some remarks I have made on this blog, Olivier Roy points out that the recent furor over cartoons lampooning Islam and the prophet Muhammad say more about Islamic dilemmas than it does about whether the religion is a fanatical Medieval religion of war. ...

At Newsweek, Roy writes:

The worst lesson to draw from last week's brouhaha has already become the most common—that it represents a deep "clash of civilizations." Not true. Instead of demonstrating the unity of the Muslim world, the protests underscore its division: a recidivist old guard determined to protect its power and hidden interests versus the growing community of modernist Muslims. They consider themselves first and foremost to be Europeans—and they quite simply do not want to be treated as immigrants, or insulted.

Related Links

• 'We Do Not Wish to Throw Them Into the Sea'
  
• Religious Riots Continue in Nigeria
  
• Blast Rocks Shiite Shrine in Samarra
  
• Iranian Leader Praises Hamas
  
• Pakistani riots about more than cartoons
  
• Australian PM Denounces Muslim Attitudes
  
• Pakistani Capital Sealed Against Protests
  
• Cartoon protesters defy ban in Pakistan
  
• At Least 15 Die in Nigeria Cartoon Protest
  
• Ministers forced out as cartoon row escalates
  
• Why I Published Those Cartoons
  
• Cartoon Protests Leave 15 Dead in Nigeria
  
• Al-Jazeera Unmasked
  
• ‘Of Course I’m Afraid’
  
• Muslims' Own Debates Called Key to Future
  
• Pakistani Cleric Announces Bounty For Killing of Danish Cartoonists
  
• Nine Die in Cartoon Protests in Libya
  
• 40,000 in Karachi Protest Cartoons of Muhammad
  
• Anatomy of the Cartoon Protest Movement
  
• Three Killed as Pakistani Cartoon Protests Intensify
  
• Pointing the Finger

My Postings on Islam

• Spiritual Hypocrisy in America on Islam
  
• Islam Torn by Religion/Civil Responsibilities
  
• Irony, Humor, Free Speech, Cartoons, and...
  
• bin-Laden: Luther of an Islamic Reformation?
  
• Britian as New Islam Laboratory?
  
• Study Shows How Evangelicals Demonize Islam