No, the muslim world is the one conquered by Islamic hordes and forced to submit to Sharia law. It is a system of theocratic rule.
The "Christian world" is not a unified concept. There is a shared faith. Western civilization got where it is because of it's Christian foundation and the Left has sought to tear that down for the same reasons. And the "Western world" exporting Christian missionaries was considered a BAD thing to alter the native cultures.
NPR, shilling for Communist and Islamist imperialism for nearly half a century.
What NPR is trying to say is that “the Muslim world” is highly diverse. Which it is.
Your counter-argument is not, I think, a particularly good one.
“Theocratic rule” means rule by God, or rule by priests. Neither applies in the Muslim world, with the exception of Iran, and that’s the first true Muslim theocracy that has ever existed.
Muslim rule, at least since the first few caliphs, has always consisted of men taking control with military force and ruling (in theory) by sharia, but in practice as they see fit. This has always created great stress between the rulers and the people and their religious teachers, who are always trying to encourage more devout rule.
Intermittently this has broken out in “reformers” taking power to bring rule “back to Islam.” However without exception the rulers quickly become decadent and corrupt, as we see with the kings and dictators throughout the Muslim world today.
I think you’d have a better argument against NPR if you pointed out that the Muslim world is MUCH LESS diverse than just a few decades ago. Saudi and other petro countries have been funding initiative to “purify” Islam around the world. They’ve been quite successful. The average Muslim of today is far more radicalized than 50, much less 200, years ago.
One of the most interesting books I’ve ever read was the story of a young Irish woman who rode her bicycle alone from Dublin to New Delhi in 1963. She was treated with great courtesy by Muslims in Iran and Afghanistan.
http://www.amazon.com/Full-Tilt-Ireland-India-Bicycle/dp/1906011419
What’s interesting is to try to imagine how long an Irish girl who tried to do the same today would last. Would she even make it all the way across Turkey?