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When the government, religion, press, and schools condone certain activities, is it the 'population' or is it just the 'extremists'?
Are only 'extremists' protesting over cartoons?
Are only 'extremists' meeting in Iran for a holocost denial convention?
How many people does it take for the 'extreme' to become 'the norm'?
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On the whole, I would answer yes to most of these questions. With some provisos.
If religious figures become involved in politics, the results can be dangerous. The population wouldn't give a damn about a Danish magazine if they hadn't been whipped up into a mob by religious leaders.
Iran (for example) is a split country half secular and half religious. There is a power struggle going on there, with the religious establishment having an awful lot to loose - both at home and abroad. It is in the religious leader's interests to stoke up the population against a foreign enemy, in the same way that it is in a partisan politician's interest to do the same thing here in the west.
Here in England, there are many 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation muslim immigrants who just can't understand the whole episode at the moment. The general consensus is that all the recent activity is politically motivated by power-hungry mullahs.
It's sad that people can be so easily manipulated.