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I'm saying over time, people don't adhere to religon as strongly, and I think eventually it will be the same for Muslims. It already is for a lot of Muslims, they have their faith, the prophet's teachings, but they don't follow it as rigidly as the fundamentalist Muslim, the one we see in the ME on the news.
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I have to disagree with you here, Neal. I don't believe that time really matters all that much. Ultimately, I believe the fundamental basis of the religion is more the question.
The Koran is not a book about "turning the other cheek", as it were. In a sense, Christianity has evolved to be more representative of the moderate, Biblical aspects of the New Testament. You're not going to see a similar evolution of Islam because the very basics of the religion doesn't support that.
Compared to the New Testament of the Bible, the Koran is simply a far more extreme religious text.
But really, when it comes to the extremism that evolves into terrorism, I believe that the vast majority of Muslims "silently consent" to these behaviors, if not completely prescribe to them. Rarely does any Muslim publically speak out against such ideologies, while you see an overwhelming effort to deflect the blame upon the victims. Muslim anti-extremism organizations such as the Free Muslims Coalition struggle to get any real traction in the mainstream Islamic community. While they are certainly growing, they no doubt find themselves in the vast minority.
More importantly, however, is the fact that it is not incumbent upon the free world to wait for Islam to evolve into a more moderate form. Now, I must point out that, while I believe Islam is an extreme religion, I don't in any way advocate its outright destruction or perversion. What I believe should be done is the free world should stop trying to make perceptions of Islam into something its not - namely, an evolved, peaceful religion. It is a religion that, in and of itself, purports being a political body to its own ends. Christianity evolved FROM this type of ideology because the texts its based upon does not seek that type of power. Rather, it was the church that had asserted its control outside of its own teachings - a moved ultimately doomed to failure due to its blatant hypocrisy.
Simply put, if we want to confront the problem of extremism we need to stop being afraid of simply identifying it. The world should no longer be tolerant of Islam's inherent intolerance.
Why must we ignore the FACT that the Koran states: "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you."? That's an extreme position, don't you think? Taken literally, it's quite clear what the passage's meaning is.
Other passages: 9:5 "Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war."
9:29: "Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission."
8:39: "Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah."
8:65: "O Prophet, urge the faithful to fight. If there are twenty among you with determination they will vanquish two hundred; if there are a hundred then they will slaughter a thousand unbelievers, for the infidels are a people devoid of understanding."
I know of nothing comparable in Christian texts.
Fundamentally speaking, Islam is an extremist religion. Islam fundamentalism is quite mainstream within the culture. Once we acknowledge this rather than simply hoping it not to be the case, we may be able to effectively lower the overwhelming Islamic tolerance for intolerance.