Why the Beirut Spring brings hope

The Lebanese elections begin today in Beirut, and while looking for some sense of what's going on there (since the U.S. media seem more concerned with the fate of Chirac's ass) I found this at Beirut Spring: Mustapha's heartfelt and brave post on being Muslim and being critical of Islam.

Moslems from Pakistan to Morocco are still ferociously protesting a Newsweek report about the Koran being violated. Meanwhile, yet another innocent (Japanese) person was viciously murdered in the name of Islam in Iraq, without a single act of protest. What's wrong with us Moslems?

It's reassuring to hear this sentiment from the generation that will inevitably one day be in charge. Let's hope that the road to power doesn't require them to make the same cynical alliances with Islamists that have undermined secular society in so many Muslim nations.