Muslims and Christians in Turkey

Mustafa Akyol's editorial "Render Unto Ataturk" describes a Turkey where the biggest threat to religious freedom is not Islam, but extreme secularism. One of the most fascinating tidbits of his piece is:

Ozbek said, “attacks against Christians still continue.” He added that harassment to Christians comes from extreme nationalists, not from Muslims. The only civil-society initiative that demanded rights for Christians, Pastor Ozbek noted, came from Mazlum-Der (“Society of the Oppressed”), an Islamic human-rights group.

Perhaps Islamists' hatred of the west is not so much due to the west's Christian roots, but due to the latter's militant and decadent secularism. Perhaps embracing our Christianity and finding common ground with Muslims as people of faith who worship the God of Abraham would prove effective in thwarting the impending clash of civilizations.