[Ophiucus]

I wonder if Islam will ever go through a reformation as christianity did.

I doubt it - or I least not anytime in the near future. Serious Islamic reformers tend to end up dead. The core Islamic groups don't play nice.

The sad part is that one would think that Islam in America would be tempered by a democratic society. The lack of an American Islamic response of outrage, or at least a definate disavowal, after 9/11 and before this war leads me to believe that a 'kinder, gentler' Islam is not going to happen.

[Dolphy]

I am not an expert on the reformation but I can understand how a people, without generations of secular government, would struggle how to separate their religion from their government. Add to that centuries of western abuse (long before the United States had any involvement) and their own leaders abuse, and you have a deep suspicion of western values. I don't think it's right, but in some ways I understand. Sometimes I think all of the marbles rest on the outcome of the post-war Iraq. If that fails there could be dark days.