of prayer. When we recalibrate the entire modernising Orient into the simplistic white/ Muslim binary of Ghannoushi, we end up with a different deployment of features. What we actually have is a very diverse combination of modernising nations, from the Confucio-authoritarian Singapore and China, to the white democracies having these common traits : acceptance of females showing more flesh in public, a reduction in cultural valuations of 'honour' based on female chastity [ this feature was prevalent in the medieval Far East ], liberalisation of attitudes towards homosexuals, a general trend towards smaller houses of worship [ with major exceptions in the US Bible belt and Pasifika peoples in white majority countries ], a narrowing of the gap between male and female literacy. In other words, the dichotomy is not between white and Muslim, but between high education- highly technological societies regardless of ethnic origin, and less developed societies. In this sense, Ghannoushi's rhetorical question as to whether whites are genuinely tolerant toward Muslims can be recast. The question can also be, 'Is it the case that modernised white and East Asian societies have the right to be less tolerant towards minorities in their midst who are taking insufficient steps towards modernity?' ``Following the horrors of the Holocaust, the norm was widened to include Jews.'' You might want to tell your co-religionists about that: they appear to deny it took place. Or, in common with the likes David Irvine, they deny it took place while appearing to rather wish that