I'll have to take back my earlier statement about the majority of Muslims.
I purchased and read the book Who Speaks For Islam published by the Gallup Press. It presents data from one of the biggest, most intricate surveys in history. It is fascinating, and I recommend everyone here to read it.
It's very clear that the majority of muslims want the same thing American Christians want: freedom and democracy with a spiritual conscience. Now, I'm an atheist and think that any time religion is used to guide government we end up with loads of unjust laws, but it's pretty apparent that vast majority of Muslims (Yes, even middle Eastern Muslims) have the exact same perspective as American Christians: that is, not their holy book as law, or even their holy men as lawmakers, but their holy book to be a source from which to inspire laws.
I challenge anyone here to read said book, honestly evaluate/analyze the data presented, and see if your perspective isn't radically changed. For too long we've been going at this with loose, emotional, media driven and anecdotal approaches. It's time we approach this in a methodical, logical way. This is a small book, but a heavy one, full of not only numerical data and observations about that data, but a detailed description of how they went about collecting and analyzing it. In the words of the final paragraph of the introduction of the book:
"Many of Gallup's findings challenge conventional wisdom and therefore will surprise and even anger many people. In the spirit of scientific inquiry, we encourage readers to question and challenge what they learn. As Albert Einstein said, 'The important thing is not to stop questioning.' He also said, 'A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.' We therefore offer what follows for your objective consideration. Let the data lead the discourse."
