As Paul Belien notes at The Brussels Journal:

If a person is incapable of tolerating criticism, including mild criticism, and especially if he perceives criticism where there is none, this is often a sign of this person's deep psychological insecurity. Rude aggression and wild rage, too, are usually not the normal behaviour of a self-confident person, but rather of someone who knows that he will lose an argument unless he can bully others into silence. Last Sunday, Catholics going to Holy Mass in London's Westminster Cathedral were confronted by Christophobic Muslims, carrying hate posters such as "Pope go to hell," "Benedict watch your back," "May Allah curse the Pope," "Jesus is the slave of Allah, "Islam will conquer Rome," and the like. An English blogger has some photos here. What must one make of these Muslim protestors? Do they look like self-assured people?

It looks as if Muslims cannot cope with an open society and the modern globalized world. Should we interpret their aggression - the result of their inability to cope with the world - as a token of strenght, or rather as a sign of inherent weakness - a sign, as Dr Elst says, that the decline of Islam has visibly begun?

Based on the visible signs of our times, and as is exemplified by the Palestinians, one would have difficulty arguing that in terms of peacefullness, love, kindness, understanding, tolerance and other such signals of compassion normally associated with a religion, Islam is growing, quite the contrary, it is declining.

Religiously inspired violence is not a sign of strength, rather of weakness. Either those Muslims that are indeed moderate, take back their faith and stand up to the extremists, or the world will indeed erupt in a war like the earth has never seen before. The "signs" that peace will prevail are, thus far, are not promising.

Ken Connor writes of this Muslims reject violence and support freedom of religion and speech, they should make their voices heard, at Human Events Online:

We are told that the vast majority of Muslims would embrace liberal democracy if given the opportunity. Perhaps they have been intimidated into silence by extreme elements of their co-religionists. If so, we in the West would do well to encourage them to find their voice, and to urge them to speak up and prevent the extremists from projecting a vision of Islam that is incompatible with democratic ideals. If Islam is a religion of peace, if the majority of Muslims reject violence and support freedom of religion and speech, they should make their voices heard. Too often terrorist attacks perpetrated in the name of Islam are followed by the silence of those who would have us believe Islam rejects such acts. Democracy stands no chance of flourishing in the Middle East until a chorus of Muslim voices reject terrorism and embrace the notions of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Until then, we should join the Pope in asking tough questions, and we should insist on honest answers.

There's no other way to say it, "If Islam is a religion of peace, if the majority of Muslims reject violence and support freedom of religion and speech, they should make their voices heard."

Cross posted from Hyscience