Rage across the Muslim world persists and grows for another week over cartoons published in a Danish paper depicting the prophet Muhammed. It has culminated in violent protests with chants of death, the burning of embassies, and a round of condemnations from governments in the region. Meanwhile, in Europe, the cartoons have been reproduced by newspapers all over the continent in a show of solidarity with the Danish journalists — who are now in hiding for fear of their lives.

The battle lines are being drawn. They are not between nations, defended with vast armies as it has been throughout the centuries, but between and within entire civilizations. It’s a culture war in which militaries and governments are sidelined in a battle between newspapers, activists, and the population at large. Muslims are boycotting Danish goods while Westerners are buying them up. The success of those organizing these efforts is due to long-fermenting sentiments on both sides itching to explode.

It’s not just about anti-Americanism and multiculturalism anymore, it’s the entirety of Western culture and values poised against the culture of Islamic extremism. Race riots in France and Australia, and this latest episode with the cartoons, is just the beginning. September 11 woke us up to the reality of the Middle East and to a little debated book called The Clash of Civilizations. In this clash, terrorist attacks committed by the most active extremist fringe of the Islamic world are small in comparison to the ever-growing rift between the two worlds. In light of the latest events, perhaps it is time to re-examine Huntington’s theory and how it applies eight years after his book was published.

The problem for multiculturalism is that it requires active outreach and understanding on the part of both sides. While Muslims both in the Middle East and Europe itself have made increasingly large demands of Westerners, Europeans have so far been in a state of cultural submission that they are now beginning to snap out of. The results continue to promise to be messy. Both are guilty of failing to reach out, but the burden is on the Islamic world as its so-called civilization has proven to be much less humane than that of the West. It is content to isolate itself and remain hostile to any sort of change. We’re heading straight-on into a clash of civilizations, and it’s very possible that it’s something that’s impossible to stop short of surrendering, as this was a process started hundreds of years ago.

All that we can do is will Western civilization to win by holding true to our own values. To do that, instead of urging unity, we need to emphasize the marketplace of ideas that brought about our civilization in the first place. Complete and utter unity of thought is the kind of demand made by the mullahs, not us. But we certainly can’t afford to waiver on what has brought us so much progress. In the very least, we can agree that we support the basic pillars of freedom that hold up our own society, and make sure those that choose to live here believe in them as well. Living in a free society means having to deal with being offended at times. But just because you’re offended, doesn’t mean you have the right to torch embassies all over the world.