But the social climate in which the people love is much "warmer" and "immoderate" than the one to which the average Christian conforms. Do we even ring church bells to sound the hours anymore(they were originally calls to prayer), do most places even observe closing hours on Sunday. Even in "secular" places like Istanbul, Muslims are constantly reminded of their religious duties. Furthermore, I think the consensus is that fundamentalism is stronger today than it was fifty years ago, because Islam--unlike the Judaism-- has never gone through an "Enlightenment." Thus Arab nationalism, ewhich was supposed to supplant Islam as a unifying force Arabs, has had to give way to a resurgent Islam. You can see this in the PLO: its radicalism has become more and more religious in tone.
Even a casual Moslem will share many more points of strong identification with a radical Moslem than will a nominal Christian with a radical Christian.
I think we minimize the visceral, emotional impact of praying 5 times a day--or even of feeling guilty for not praying 5 times a day, forehead on the ground etc.
We minimize the impact of THEIR "word of Allah" soberly instructing them to kill infidels; enjoy a martyr's instant trip to Heaven etc. . . .
It's not that casual Moslem's read the book and say--what rubbish. Their entire training, mindset, gestalt etc is that THOSE WORDS ARE THE WORDS OF ALLAH even though they may not be living close to toeing the line. The words are still there and held as valid. And if push came to shove, I'd expect them to go the way of those words in their 'bible.'
Their belief system is a much more thorough and much more intense enculturation gestalt than Christianity has been in the U.S. for the last at least 75 years.