Ben Affleck and Bill Maher are both wrong about Islamic fundamentalism – The Washington Post

One of the better pieces responding to the Majer/Affleck debate, by looking at public opinion data from a range of Muslim countries.

Expect that part of the explanation for the variations reflect local and tribal histories, culture and income:

Overall, the picture that emerges of fundamentalism among the worlds Muslims is considerably more complicated than either Affleck or Maher seem to realize. Theres no doubt that, particularly among some Middle Eastern Muslims, support for intolerant practices runs high. It’s quite easy to criticize these practices when a repressive regime is inflicting them upon an unwilling population. But things get much more difficult when such practices reflect the will of the people, as they seem to do in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Egypt.

On the other hand, majorities of Muslims in many countries — particularly Western countries — find these practices abhorrent. Maher tries to speak in broad brushstrokes of a “global Islam,” but Pews data show that such a thing doesn’t really exist.

Ben Affleck and Bill Maher are both wrong about Islamic fundamentalism – The Washington Post.