Reader 'a real muslim woman' missed the whole point

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Oct 6, 2015 at 03:26

Dear Dr Pipes, the bizarre sex stories from the Islamic world that you mention in the blog on that topic may or may not have any sanction in Quran but your reader who identified herself 'a real muslim woman' missed the whole point. Let me explain. Bizarre incidences happen in all societies. No culture or region of the world can claim to be entirely free of strange behavior of people. But there are a few things about Islamic societies that stand out:

First, when a bad things happen in most societies, we look inward and admit that we failed. We do not say that our society or doctrine is perfect. That allows us to continuously refine our behavior and reinvent ourselves. Islamic society take a completely different view. When something bad happens, they do not look inward. They keep Islam on the same elevated pedestal and consciously disown the bad thing. When a Muslim terrorist kills someone, they say that he was not a true Muslim. When someone sites bizarre stories, they say that the stories have no sanctions in Quran. When someone mentions the poverty and violence in the Islamic world, they blame the west.

Second, most non-Islamic societies encourage freedom of expression and thought. It is not for nothing that we let our teenagers color their hair blue and let our women dress less "modestly" if they choose to and let our journalists write whatever they want to. Allowing such freedoms of expression is inconvenient but it has a purpose. It creates a self governing system of checks and balances in our free societies. It allows us to reduce the amounts of bizarre and illogical behaviors in our societies. History of the world provides ample evidence that societies that prohibit thought, fall into draconian situations. Do we remember Idi Amin? Do we remember the communist regimes? These are the examples where restrictions on freedom led to bizarre behaviors in the leaders and societies. Free societies are not perfect. But they allow enough instruments to reduce the frequency of strange behaviors.

It is almost a certainty that the amount of violence and murders in the Islamic societies will reduce if these societies adopt democracy and freedom of thought as a way of living.

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".