You say this as if I am to believe that America is moderate when it comes to anger about muslim terrorism. May I remind you that you set two countries a blaze in retaliation to the WTC attack!

"we also have separation of Church and State in our constitution,..."

That's what you say, but American politics seem to prove something else, fact is that the Bush administration has a very high amount of evangalists and the views, rules and politics to match them. Just because you say that the two are seperated doesn't make it so! Beside the Dutch constitution has the same angle.

"We’re also more accustomed to rubbing elbows with people from other cultures."

Before Bush started his holy war on the Muslim countries we in Holland were getting along with eachother reasonably good apart from small differences.

"I wonder to what degree Van Gogh’s relationship to the painter..."

The reason the Dutch got upset when Van Gogh got murdered by an extremist was that he said out loud what many Dutch were thinking about the anti social behaviour of some muslims. The possible relation to the famous painter is totally irrelevant.

Part of it is, America is newer, we don't have thousands of years of Tradition. we also have separation of Church and State in our constitution, where we consider religion to be a personal matter.

Also, our country was populated to a certain extent by people running from persecution.

Europe, with their Church Tax like in Germany, does not consider religion to be personal, it's very much public and part of the state. Therefore, you can't help but have more anger and violence.

I wonder to what degree Van Gogh's relationship to the painter made this more personal to many Dutch--gave them a sense that this was an attack on a "national treasure" in addition to mere retaliation for a film perceived to be anti-Muslim.