Review by John C. Snider © 2010

To say that Islam has been getting a bad rap these last few years would be a massive understatement.  All religions–all cultures, for that matter–have their ups and downs, and for the last few decades Islam has definitely been seen by the West as “down.”  9-11 didn’t help matters.

It’s been extremely easy for the Western media to build a black-and-white case against the whole of Islamic civilization: they attacked us; they’re evil; it’s East versus West; we need to kick ass.  This oversimplification of things is made all that much easier by the shocking ignorance of Islam and Islamic history displayed, not just by the man on the street, but by our elected officials and influential policymakers.  One need only look at the complicated and bloody history of Christianity and Western civilization to sense that the history of Islam and the Middle East is no less complicated.  Only a fool would believe that every Muslim is a rabid jihadist determined to destroy Western freedoms, and that every Christian is a saintly martyr who just wants what’s best for everybody–yet that seems to be the worldview espoused by all to0 many of our fellow citizens.

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