In 6 centuries, maybe, but not in the foreseeable future

Submitted by Jared (United States), Apr 17, 2008 at 15:17

You seem to be pushing the envelop just to be contrarian.

You say that Islam is not incompatible with democracy but, to the extent that it is, current incompatibility "reflects historical circumstances more than the innate features of Islam." However, you also state that "Shari'a lies at the core of the problem" and call for the rejection of its public aspects, recognizing that Shari'a is a bit more than "historical circumstance."

The two examples you give to demonstrate how Muslim democratization can be done are now in flux. There is a major war going on in Sudan, in which Islam plays a major part. The jury is out on Turkey where the religiously affiliated Justice and Development Party (AKP) has ascended over the secular Kemalists.

Finally, you say that it took 6 centuries for the Catholic Church to reconcile itself to democracy, this with a centralized hierarchy which Islam does not have. With the spread of nuclear weapons, the militancy of the Islamists, and the Muslim population time bomb in Western Europe, do we realistically have 6 centuries, or even one, for Islam to develop into a modern religion which embraces democracy?

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