The extreme Islamist ideology surfaced again today with the arrest in Britain of 21 suspects in an ambitious plot to make yet another point through indiscriminate death. The only term that comes to mind: cowardice.

The quality I least understand about Islam’s dark side is its gift for finding recruits that will blow themselves up for it. It’s a world view, a religious system and a political force. Like any other ideology, Islam answers some questions and leaves others begging. Even if it came from the lips of the Prophet (PBUH), surely man’s interpretation and implementation falls short of perfect and godly.

I talk passionately about the Western world view, a sort of spiritualism I subscribe to and this cobbled-together democratic system we have in the United States. That doesn’t mean I’d self-immolate (and take hundreds with me whose only crime is one of bad circumstance) for those ideals.

Would you strap yourself with explosives and walk into a crowd of civilians for representative democracy? Want to sign up to take down an airplane full of innocents for capitalism? Even for the most rabid pro-U.S. hawks, I bet the answer is no. And I would also wager that the majority of Muslims would give the same reply if asked to die for Islam.

Suicidal evangelism smacks of cowardice and delusion. The broadest base of Islam needs to step up and forcefully condemn this wicked streak of extremism. Now. The U.S. and its allies can wage a war on terrorism until they run out of bullets, but they cannot win until Islam finishes this conversation within itself.

PS: This post focuses on Islam’s failings, but don’t for a minute think casualties at Western hands are ignored in the war on terrorism. Think of the thousands of Iraqi and U.S. lives we could have saved if Congress had authorized billions to solve U.S. energy dependency, instead of for launching a war (in part) to sustain it. Of course, then Saddam would still be in power…