But the subsequent defeat of fascism seemed to have rescued our
culture, to have given it a new start — and thus covered over once more the possibility of that
culture's ending, the incipient mortality of the
democratic and
liberal culture which fascism had challenged.
For some Muslims, Western secular
culture and the conspicuous consumption that often goes along with it are seen as undermining their faith; others acknowledge the
democratic systems of the West but struggle to balance that appreciation against a religion that they feel leaves little room for
liberal values.