If you’re looking for Political Correctness, don’t read this.  I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.

After 9/11, there was a considerable effort made to distance terrorism from mainstream Islam, and to combat the terrorists dramatic demonstration of their belief that Islam justifies such horrible violence.  After the London bombings, Blair took a bit different tack by asking for more responsibility from the Muslim community to moderate extremism.

I don’t know very much about Islam, especially the various sects that seem to be at war within it.  If Muslims can’t agree on a single interpretation of their religion, how can I hope to?  Which leads me to the question I’ve long been pondering: who speaks for what Islam really means - the moderates or the extremists?  I’d naturally prefer to listen to the moderates as they match my mental model better.  But does that best represent the unfiltered truth?

A recent Pew Global Attitudes Project poll helps put this in some kind of perspective.  It surveys the prevailing attitudes in middle eastern countries about whether suicide bombings of civilians and Osama Bin Laden’s agenda are justifiable interpretations of Islam or not.

The good news is that in most countries, many fewer people support civilian targets than just a few years ago.  Hurray!

The bad news is how many still believe that "violence against civilians is justified often or sometimes."  In Jordan, 57% of the people believe this and 60% have confidence in Osama Bin Laden.  In Pakistan, the numbers are 25% and 51% respectively.  In other less radicalized countries like Indonesia each number is still in double digits.

If one accepts that violence against civilians is inherently evil (including such violence when perpetrated by our own military in Iraq), one can interpret these results in two ways - that (let’s take the extreme case) most Jordanians are bad Muslims, or that the Jordanian brand of Islam harbors some evil.  Change "most" to "a significant proportion" for the other countries surveyed.

I suspect the truth is probably somewhere in between, requiring self-examination among Muslims to ensure they are striving to practice and spread enlightened Islam.  But it also seems a bit of a whitewash to say that Islam is completely pure and benign when it contains a term like jihad that can be so easily used to justify evil.

If you think my logic has gone off track, let me know.  I’m still searching for answers.