What if?

The novel I am curerently writing is made up on these ‘what ifs’:
• a New Zealand atheist (Matt Couper) works in Iraq for a private military and security company?
• Matt saves the life of a young Muslim teenager (Tara Nasrim)?
• Tara comes to New Zealand as an orphaned refugee?
• grown-up now, Tara falls in love with Matt?
• Matt has a Muslim rival for Tara’s affection?
• Middle-Eastern strife comes to New Zealand?

Since Islamic extremism hasn’t reached the shores of New Zealand, the last ‘what if?’ was the most difficult to deal with. We don't want that strife here but no one can say with certainty that it will never happen. The authenticity of this part of the story-line depends on the possibility that it could.

I’m writing a tale where the antagonists are Muslim. In fairness, to them, I’m at pains to show that extremists don’t represent Islam as a whole, that there is much good in Islam, and that some ‘Christian’ countries in the world don’t have cleaner hands than some ‘Muslim’ countries.

After all, ‘Christian’ countries (histotically and today) have committed atrocities against Jews in Europe, Muslims in the Middle-East and Central Europe, and Catholics in Ireland, to give examples.