That's a great article, bobad! Thanks for posting it. It gives some new perspectives on the Rushdie debacle. His responses to comments are really interesting, as well. He says:


"The political sphere has in recent decades become hollowed out and ideological divides have been all but erased. As the politics of ideology has given way to the politics of identity, so social solidarity has come increasingly to be defined not in political terms – as collective action in pursuit of certain political ideals – but in terms of culture. And increasingly, as the political has eroded, so faith has come to be an anchor for cultural identity."

That's an insight that goes well beyond Islam, and extends to the Red
State/Blue State divisions in the US.