Egypt is lost or soon will be

Submitted by Gloria Stewart (United States), Feb 17, 2011 at 17:46

I see no reason for Dr. Pipes' optimism. Islam and any form of democracy are incompatible. The Islamists may have had little input into this overthrow (the Bolsheviks had little input into the original Russian Revolution), but they can easily hijack it. If the Muslim Brotherhood was not allowed to organize in the past, that only insured that they did not overtly do so. In any attempt at free elections, they will take part and probably win, if not a majority then a plurality. That will be a first step.

It is difficult to see how Muslims can be motivated by patriotism. I am not talking abut a handful of people. That is always possible. When one is a Muslim, one's loyalty is to the ummah. Secularism is equally impossibly, as mosque and state are one in Islam. Personal responsibility won't cut it either. In Islam the individual usually looks outside of himself and his actions when it comes time to assess blame. He tends to blame others.

I cannot imagine being impressed by Qaradawi and any moderate statement he might make. He would swear he was a Croatian dwarf if at the moment it served his broader purposes.

The average man in the streets in Egypt wants a better life, no doubt. Do you know many people who want a worse one? There is within Islam no vocabulary or protocol or framework for valuing democracy. It is like asking a blind man to describe the color red.

The smart money is on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Gloria Stewart

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