Quote:
Originally posted by NousDefionsDoc
IMO, since the Muslim world refuses to define themselves as peaceful Allah-fearing folk,
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I have to disagree here, NDD. I think we're making an overly-broad generalization. That being, how would the Muslim world define themselves? The earlier comparison to Catholicism is a bit mistaken, I think, in that Catholicism is strictly hierarchical, with one voice at the top. That being, if the Pope "defines" the Catholic world as such, it is such (or else you aren't a Catholic). But there is no corresponding authority in the Muslim world. Getting a sunni, shi'ite, wahabi, and a sufi all together to agree on exactly how to 'define' themselves is just going to end in disaster.
A more apt comparison would be saying, "The Christian world needs to define itself as...." Put in that light, it's obvious that it's a very difficult, if not impossible request. Some groups are so broad that's it's impossible to get a consensus on anything.
As to the matter of Islam at large, no, I don't think we are at war with all Muslims. It's simply the squeaky-wheel problem. You hear every day about a very violent, very media-savvy minority of a billion-plus population. You never hear about the silent majority, if for no other reason than that they're -not- blowing anything up.
--Dan