Protest !!

Watching the events unfurl in Egypt one is struck by the immense size of the crowds gathering in different parts of the city. Those in support of President Morsi and those who wish to overthrow him, gathering in there thousands, millions, to show support. It is a remarkable scene to see people out on the streets day after day protesting.

In this country perhaps a thousand or two would be a significant demonstration and it would have to be organised so as not to disrupt the need for our people to turn up for work the following day. It might be argued that we don't have much to protest about and anyway we are too pragmatic and have the soft underbelly of debt to service. 
 Of course the people in this country who are due to feel the withdrawal of benefits in the coming months, the unemployed, the cast off's from the armed forces who will be turned out onto the street after fighting "our cause" in Afghanistan. These and others just might feel a little miffed but for many cultural reasons, we will not protest on the streets.

The underlying problem in Egypt is that the democratic elections, fought a couple of years ago, were in a sense skewed. The Muslim Brotherhood used the religious contrivance of "faith" to support the election of their political party.
If the politics had been "inclusive" and not seen as an opportunity to change society, along Muslim lines, accompanied by the slow crack down on liberal attitudes such as the proposed introduction of Sharia Law, was the final straw.

It seems to me that here we have the nub of the problem.  Any Muslim based party must follow a religious, Islamic agenda which is seen by many none Muslims, as a return to a way of life, out of touch with modern society. Without a religious covenant, the beliefs and the fervor are alien to most people. It produces a schism, a divide that is unbridgeable.
There is the fear of religious thought which can become, in some peoples eyes, unreasonable and dogmatic.