US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2109

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR WHA/PD; IIP/G/WHA DIPASQUALE; AND IIP/T/ES 
DEPT. FOR S/CT, PM, NEA, AND WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, PTER, PREL, PGOV, HO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON SEPTEMBER 11, TERRORISM, AND 
ISLAMISM, OCTOBER 12, 2005 
 
 
1. On 10/12 the San Pedro Sula-based liberal daily "La 
Prensa" published an op-ed by Roger Martinez Miralda 
entitled "Clash of Civilizations."  "The threat of terrorist 
attacks on the New York subway system last weekend, be they 
real or not, is a reminder that following the terrible 
attacks that occurred on September 11 something has changed 
in the world." 
 
"Some authors have arrived at the conclusion that we are on 
the threshold, or already immersed in a political-religious 
conflict in which Muslim fundamentalism seeks to control as 
many countries as possible in the world, to further extend 
doctrinal religious power, so that all the inhabitants of 
the world practice Islam." 
 
"I believe that under current circumstances, that the 
possibility for the pure religious fanaticism of a couple 
thousand to cause the collapse of cultural models and 
military might not only of the West, but also in countries 
like China or Japan who have opted for political systems in 
which religious ideas are part of the private sphere of 
people, and holds no influence over the State and its laws. 
There are other countries in which the majority of the 
population is Muslim, like Turkey, Egypt, or Indonesia in 
which this same population prefers a nation in which each 
citizen can live according to the faith which suits their 
conscience best." 
 
"At any rate, Islamic penetration of the West has been fluid 
and progressive, beginning in the 70s one could see with 
frequency women wearing the veil in Rome and in Madrid, and 
in even greater proportions in London or Paris." 
 
"It is evident that this process of Islam-ization is the 
product of migration, and above all the abandonment of 
religious practice in Christian countries, the lack of 
religious study, the advancement of alternative religious 
philosophies, and spiritual lethargy." 
 
"The de-Christian-ization of our countries is not the result 
of Muslim propaganda (In Honduras few know the tenants of 
this religion) but the result of a process in which we have 
lost a sense of belonging in our Churches and the ongoing 
pursuit of pleasure, materialism, and egotistical 
individualism." 
 
Williard