Islamic laws and traditions regarding sex are extensive and detailed. The most intimate details of sex are discussed and the actions to be taken before and after are described.  Where Islam is the state religion, there is a pathological obsession with “modesty” that Westerners would call “puritanical” in terms of their own society.  

How much of the reaction throughout much of Middle Eastern Islam to Western attitudes and behavior about sex fuels the widespread terror war cannot be known. If Muslim men were to lose the actual control their society and culture exercises over women, it would undermine much of the reason to be a Muslim.  

Lust, however, has no religion. A religion that loses its control over this aspect of its adherents’ lives, is in trouble. Even in America, the power of religion to influence behavior is reflected in the battle over the issue of abortion and, now, same-sex marriages. Religious beliefs concerning the existence of God, modesty of dress and behavior, and fidelity remain strong in America, even if popular culture appears to flaunt them, but Hollywood rarely has reflected widely held beliefs based in Judeo-Christian traditions.  

This is not to say that religion anywhere is having much success curbing lust. The sex trade worldwide is rampant. Pornography has become a multi-billion dollar business, especially via the Internet. The Catholic Church is trying to deal with revelations of widespread pederasty among its priests. Episcopalians are facing a major church schism over the ordination of a homosexual bishop. Worldwide, films and television in many nations encourage a casual attitude toward sex. The spread of AIDS is testimony to the failure of both religions and governments to make much impact on this lethal disease.  

It would be a mistake to underestimate the reaction of fundamentalist Muslims regarding issues involving sex. This is not to suggest that Islam’s holy warriors are more or less lustful than any other people, but that their religion prohibits any open expression of sexual attraction, holding hands, kissing in public, or dressing provocatively. So, while Islam can be extraordinarily candid about sex, it still is something it wants restricted to the marriage chamber. Adultery can rate a death sentence in some Muslim nations.  

We now live in a time when fundamentalist elements of the Islamic population are waging a worldwide terror war to preserve the seventh century sexual traditions of a fringe culture and laws set down by a man whose own sex life must surely astonish and even appall any Muslim who examines it. When it comes to sex, the Islamic holy war is being fought in the name of a man who did not feel restrained by the rules of his own era.  

Many Muslims look upon the West with an arrogant sense of moral superiority. It’s not that Western behavior is anything to brag about, but it surely isn’t a good reason for which to be killed either.  

Alan Caruba writes a weekly commentary called “Warning Signs” that is posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center (www.anxietycenter.com).  

© Alan Caruba 2004