>U should read Ibn Warraq's essay "Debunking Edward Said:
>Edward Said and the Saidists: or Third World Intellectual
>Terrorism"
>
>
http://www.secularislam.org/articles/debunking.htm
Interesting article. To put the Moslem question in a more contemporary setting, we could use the present-day African American experience as an analogy.
Just as there are Moslem who believe that there is a permanent battle between Western culture and Islam, some African Americans believe that all white people are racist.
Just as there are Moslems who have allowed this negative attitude and self-pity (the Christians and Jews are out to get us!)to permeate there everyday life, many African Americans walk around with a chip on their shoulder, blaming racism for every failure in their lives.
Just as some Moslems feel justified to commit acts of violence against their percieved enemies (Christians and Jews), some African Americans believe that by committing crime or refusing to work, prefering to live off welfare, they are getting back at Whitey for racism and slavery.
Just as the majority of Moslems have been cowed into submission and silence, choosing to allow a violent and criminal minority to define the rational and progressive majority, African Americans are afraid to succeed for fear of being accused of trying to be white.
Moderate Moslems are afraid to voice out their opinion, choosing to "go along just to get along". What these two communities have in common is rampant crime, violence, poverty, economic and social regression, self-pity and paranoia. It is time to take the exit out of this vicious cycle.
I know I make a lot of people mad in other threads when I claim that African Americans are using the race card as a crutch, an excuse for failure. I will not stay silent while black people allow negative attitudes to permanently render them as members of the lowest stratum of society. Likewise, Moslems should do the same for their own people.