A matter of inclusion, not a clash of civilizations
Hey ma'fellow indifferent armchair-dwellers reasonable folks who care about freedom and peace almost as much as I do! Now that a week has passed since the act of barbarism in Paris which was instantly branded by some smartheads (and politicians) "a clash of civilizations", perhaps it's time to sit back a little and assess things a bit more soberly
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If I have one slight quibble it is in the timeline for change. You state that "This is why I suspect this will be a century of ethnicity and religious identity.". In the West, what took a century now takes a decade. Whereas in some parts of the world, a century still takes all of seven decades, if you catch my drift. Part of the problem is of different cultural inertias. Moving from a mediæval culture to a late industrial one requires some sort of equivalent to the Trotskyist idea of "perpetual revolution", which I fear to be a wrong tack.
We have to build a culture that allows folk to develop at their own pace, without hindering the the vanguard, or neglecting the stragglers. And one which, at the same time guarantees modern human rights. And as this appears to be mutually exclusive that is one hell of a complicated task, and one which requires good-will and co-operation from all sides. As you rightly note, a rather massive olive-branch has been offered by a member of the Islamic leadership: it is now up to us to craft a response, and lead our own electorates, even if kicking and screaming, to act for the greater good. (And by this I don't mean to use the panopticon to enforce its will through fear.)
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