Optimistic and reassuring concept.

One would like to think it is true, but, the saying about flying pigs comes to mind, but could that generate a Fatwa? Have we heard much from S Rushdie lately? I thought he was still keeping under cover for fear of his life.

Maybe the enumerated academics could benefit us all by adding another degree to their quiver, such as Marketing. They would also be prudent to then triple their life assurance coverage.

Great article. Muslim moderates are to be commended for their courage .But for all its positives, I feel such thinking may be but an evolutionary dead-end.

History/evolution has a way of bypassing some of the best laid plans…

While many of the leading technocrats of the day would have been
gathered around blue prints of horse drawn vehicles, tinkering adding bells & whistles.The cutting edge moved elsewhere.
The horse drawn vehicle was bypassed altogether.

With cloning, conscious machines, worldwide internets, virtual worlds etc etc. Either here or just around the corner ,humanity is rapidly moving beyond the imaginations of even the most daring theocrat

The non believers always omit that it is the very same motivator that drives both religion and science. That there is something greater than ourselves always on the horizon. Something other than what we currently know or believe to be true. Man is not infallible nor is science, nor is religion but, religion is hopeful and such hope gives man that necessary push to continue the search for knowledge and understanding.

Brushy, You keep on mentioning this alledged intellectual debt like a broken record :) We KNOW it now... many times over we know it.(I reject it though)

Amir said:

"in the West, an imagined Islam, purposefully structured and popularly propagated, has created a perception that this religion is a threat to Western civilisation."

Islam, cannot be separated from its foundation documents, its prophet or his and his companions understanding and application of those foundation documents. It often IS separated by either bleeding heart Liberals or anti Christian Socialists.

Even Justice Higgins, made that separation by referring to 'Mainstream' Muslims.

But this does not help us in predicting the likely outcome of the rise of any kind of Islam in the Western context.

Suppose the 'brand' of Islam Amir speaks about.. a 'rational' type, emerges in the West. Lets look at what might happen.

PREDICTION.
1/ The 'rational' muslims, lets call them 'Ali-ites' after the article author, will grow.
2/ Because they are now 'rational' and 'western' in thinking, they will adopt consumerism and enjoy the fruits of Western Freedom.
3/ The Mullah's in Saudi Arabia and Osama's crowd, will look at this and begin to stir up radicals. Radicals will emerge anyway, even without them, because Islam is not about 'adjusting to the consumerist west, it is about "The world and all that is in it belongs to Allah AND His messenger"
It is about 'Don't take Jews and Christians as friends' etc..
It is about 'fight against the unbelievers as long as they don't confess that Allah is God alone and I am his messenger'
The radicals are not blind, they can read.

4/ The radicals will increasingly (and more aggressively) polarize the Muslim community, (just as they are doing right now) and the moderates will be described in most unflattering terms as 'bad Muslims'(at best) and 'Apostates' at worst.

The above WILL happen because it already is, further, it will happen because of 2 major reasons.
1/ Islam is 'political' and seeks an Islamic state (always and forever)
2/ The foundation documents support the point 1 above

David is spot on and should be congratulated. His points are fairly obvious and he has explained it well.

One writer drew an analogy with Italian migrants. Unbelievable. It is a sad state of affairs when the naive parroting of slogans learned from leftist lecturers passes for educated opinion. Italians worked to build a better future for their families. In 1990 an Egyptian born teacher aid who worked in the Auburn area told me that a school survey of the 450 Arabic families revealed that 85% of their fathers were unemployed.

As David said it has happened for a long time and it will continue happening. No amount of intellectualising will stop even one suicide attack. Trillions of petro dollars have flowed into the Muslim world and their most noteworthy contribution to the future (medieval)of mankind -- hate, death and destruction all in the name of God. Their biggest contribution to technology -- the IED.

We have more than enough here already.

numbat wrote..."but brutality - beheading of anyone"

From what I know, and could be corrected, Islam the religion and muslims the people that follow it, religion and daily life is a lot more integrated than as compared to say christianity and christians. eg the daily prayers by all together...

The belief behind beheading seems to be an religious act. Sin(as in accumulation of evil acts) resides in the soul of the person whose seat is in the middle of the head(seems around the pituitary), and the rest of the body is seen as 'pure' ie without sin in gods eyes. So by removing the sin/evil(head) the act is to leave what is then pure(the body)...so its an act for god so that the body may go to god...

I know all the issues moral and otherwise this raises...but the origins to this practice started in the original jihads that spread islam throughout middle east to outer west/east...the conquered people were only given one choice, koran(become, and let their children become muslims) or the sword(ie beheading)...

So I dont think muslims necessarily see the act as a 'brutality' like what other religious/people see it as...and of course the fundamental issue is at 'decision to behead' at which the moral dilemma applies to muslims and everyone else whom involved in a situation where the question to takes some ones life on religious grounds or otherwise exists...

Sam