In an excellent article, Irshad Manji explains why she is offended by the Muslim world’s reaction to Salman Rushdie’s knighthood. She sums it up by saying:
Above all, I’m offended that so many other Muslims are not offended enough to demonstrate widely against God’s self-appointed ambassadors. We complain to the world that Islam is being exploited by fundamentalists, yet when reckoning with the opportunity to resist their clamour en masse, we fall curiously silent.
In a battle between flaming fundamentalists and mute moderates, who do you think is going to win?
Of course, it’s not only in Islam, or even religion, that we see battles between flaming fundamentalists and mute moderates. But that’s the biggest battleground of our times.