Quote Originally Posted by TinCow
I'm starting to get the feeling that this isn't about the cartoons anymore. This seems to be evolving into a general Anti-West 'movement'. The longer this goes on, the less sympathy I have for them. It's rare that incidents cause me to change my mind about my most basic beliefs, but my belief in the general goodness of the greater Muslim population is being severely shaken. In situations like this, if you do not decry the violence that is being done, you are condoning it.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
-Edmund Burke
You know, over the past few days I've begun to feel the same way. I don't want to believe that Islam is a religion of violence, and many events over the past years failed to make me think so. For example:

1. Pre-9/11 acts of terrorism didn't do it. In truth I didn't hear about them often, and didn't pay much attention when I did. Terrorism was just something that popped up on the news now and then, and it was done by many different groups.

2. 9/11 didn't do it. Crowds of Muslims celebrated in the Middle East came close, though.

3. Suicide bombings, car bombings, and other violent acts post-9/11, which have received more media coverage, didn't do it. These and all of the previously mentioned incidents could be dismissed as a relatively small number of extremists committing acts of insanity.

But lately, we have:

1. The election of an radical with intolerant and violent tendencies in Iran.

2. The election of a terrorist group to lead the Palestinians.

3. Large-scale, violent (even deadly) protests across the Muslim world over a cartoon.

These are actions of the mainstream, not a few fringe groups. It can no longer be denied - something is seriously wrong with Islam as it is currently practiced. The question is, what can be done to fix it?