As someone broadly in political agreement with much on the left I never understand the obsession with rolling in Islamophobia with these things. At the end of the day religious movements are broadly intolerant, aboslutist and objectionable in nature. It's not a bad thing to fear the increase in power of religious totalitarians. They have a lot in common with many of the others you want to attack.

Even the most mainstream of Islamic voices tend to espouse positions on women's rights, sexual identity and tolerance which would be pilloried and decried if they came from our typical WASPy overlords.

Because pilloried and decried is different than feared (-phobia). The paranoia some Americans have about Sharia law is a good example of the difference - I'm strongly against that happening, but I'm not afraid of that happening, because it isn't a real threat. Being against something and being afraid of something are very different, and it's the fear that can be useful to those in power.

To the contrary I am indeed afraid of the increase in Islamic fundamentalism across the world because of the destabilizing influence. Also because of the detrimental effects it has on global development, scientific progress and human rights (particularly women's rights). With the latter I fear that the more entrenched it becomes the harder it is to roll back. Sharia is a terrible thing for global progress and its implementation anywhere is something I fear, so phobia seems pretty apt and not irrational. Talking with women living in societies where Islamic fundamentalist power is on the rise you will find a very real fear as to what it means for them.

It's already taken hold in countries spanning a very large number of people. It matters in Pakistan for example. Pakistan has nukes. There's a threat there to everyone.

Sorry, I suppose I wasn't very clear. I was referring to the fear some people have of Sharia law taking hold in the U.S., not in other countries, which is a baseless fear that can be used by those in power to manipulate those who are afraid. The fear of fundamentalism in other countries is not so baseless, but it can still be used to manipulate people if those people don't examine the relationship between their fears and the policies advocated in their name (ie. fear of fundamentalism justifying not just surveillance of fundamentalists but of everybody).

Because they're fucking awesome. War movies, that is. Sure, I'm probably playing into some sort of social conditioning, but it doesn't change that I enjoyed watching John Wayne movies growing up.