Women as the solution to 'Jihadism'

My father asked me what the solution to the Islamic problem is, and my answer was that the West had to learn to live with Islam, and Islam would have to learn to live with the West.

What is most troubling about the current Jihadism is that it is unequivocally about supremacy. There is no moderation in their ideology, it is predicated on subsuming the rest of the world to Islamic law, with no room for such things as pluralism.

The virtue of pluralism in defeating this ideology cannot be understated - nor can we allow pluralism (be it in the form of same sex marriage, or allowing the full plethora of religious beliefs to be practiced) to be defeated at home by conservative/religious ideologies that are extant here. To allow our own governments to backslide towards intolerance creates the very 'clash of civilizations' that fuels radical Islam. Only by remaining open, welcoming, and tolerant can we provide the positive example required to defeat the totalitarian/theocratic impulse.

As the article makes clear, the best place to start with pluralism abroad is with Islamic women. Education, and economic incentives are the key to undermining radical Islamism.

At home, it is a matter of defeating those forces that work against pluralism through democratic means. Be they the Tory party with its opposition to SSM, or whomever else seeks to undermine our universal freedoms.

We must practice the pluralism and tolerance we preach to them, and genuine victory will only come when they begin to practice it themselves.