Dictatorship and Islamism go hand in hand

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Jul 10, 2011 at 18:20

Dear Dr Pipes,

Reader Naushad Omar hopes that with the wave of democracy sweeping in the middle east "Israel wil not have all their way military-wise". I suspect that democracy is like a knife that cuts bith ways. The desire for freedom from the dictators that is sweeping across the middle east might also might also translate into a desire for freedom from the mullah. In fact, dictatorships might be the only way to sustain certain requirements of Islamic societies.

How, for example, will you stop people from preaching Christianity (or any other religion) in a true democracy? How will you sustain a theological state in a democratic setup? How will you support apostasy in a society that supports freedom? How can it be ensured in a truly free society that Muslim youth do not fall in love with non-Muslims and, if the do, always manage to convert the other to Islam? How can it be sustained in a free society that no one ever questions the existence of God and becomes an athiest? How will you stop the free thinking humans from doubting that Quran may not be the last or only word of God?

So while the wave of democracy is a welcome wave in Middle East, either it will swallow fundamentalism (Islamic fundamentalism, that is) or it will, once again, die in the face of force revert to dictatorship.

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