Perhaps

Submitted by Doug (United States), Mar 10, 2011 at 17:57

Islam is confronting the reality of a 21^st century with its democracy, human rights, ready access to information, and vices. The problem is that it is not offering any solutions to those who are living under it, specially the young. This is what is being seen in the Middle East with the ongoing revolts. They see the west, with all of its material offerings, rights of the people, forms of democracies that empower the people, as well as its social order. They instead get told that the west is evil, and should not be emulated but destroyed.

Some people are stupid enough to believe it; most people are not that stupid. They see that the religion is being used to subjugate the people, offering nothing in return. This brings everything to a head… they are screaming the scream made for thousands of years "I want my freedom".

Unless Islam goes through a reformation similar to what happened in Christianity, it will die. It is a basic law of nature either evolve or become extinct. A seventh century form of government only leads to the repressiveness' seen in the Muslim Middle East. The Muslim world will need to develop systems that create a separation of church and state, or it will continue to die slowly. Turkey is an example of this, which is also the only democracy in the region outside of Israel.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".