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Islamic societies must be obligated to be democratic

Reader comment on item: ISIS Imposes a Partial Ban on Burqas
in response to reader comment: Burqa

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Sep 7, 2016 at 08:24

Dear Dr Pipes, your reader Ifthikar Ahmad called various names like 'intrusive' and 'undemocratic' to Britain, the country he chooses to live in but what strikes me as notable in his long letter is his statement, "People should understand and respect cultural diversity and be able to live in peace and harmony.".

Islamic hypocrisy is so palpable that touching it might burn your fingers!

Does cultural diversity matter only in only those countries that have chosen to be constitutional democracies? What about cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and rest of the Islamic world? You cannot declare a land to be an Islamic theocracy and expect people to practice their non-Islamic culture freely.

This letter of mine is more than just one reader opposing the views of another reader. It is about the fact that our world has been conditioned to judge Islamic societies by a different yardstick: Democracy is a necessity for all countries but Islamic, human rights are important for Muslims in the western countries but not for non-muslims in the Islamic countries, freedom to preach a foreign religion is an obligation of non-Muslim societies but not of Muslim societies. Freedom to dress and pray needs to be guaranteed in non-Muslim nations but not in Muslim nations. The equivalent of apostasy will be bad for all religions other than Islam but it is justified for Islam. Thiis list can go on and on.

Ifthikar Ahmad and all his coreligionists must realize that democracy is inconvenient! It will be a lot more convenient for world's democracies to become their versions of Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian theocracies. We choose the difficult democratic path because it is the right path. And Muslim societies must also be obligated to follow the same difficult but right path.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (21) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
2ISIS partial ban on Burkha [84 words]PrashantSep 10, 2016 12:02232516
Optimism [56 words]a6zSep 8, 2016 15:17232431
Stop Micromanaging women [168 words]Lynn MSep 7, 2016 14:22232405
Veil, burqa, burkini etc. [24 words]stevenlSep 7, 2016 00:21232373
1Veil, Burqa and Burkini [1000 words]Iftikhar AhmadSep 7, 2016 12:38232373
From Hassan II of Maroc in French. [10 words]stevenlSep 10, 2016 01:18232373
What to Wear? [67 words]Iftikhar AhmadSep 11, 2016 17:35232373
Hijra, Islamic Migration: Bill Warner [63 words]stevenlSep 14, 2016 11:08232373
Stop wondering why Burkini is protested more than Burkha [126 words]PrashantSep 6, 2016 21:38232370
Facekini [479 words]iftikhar AhmadSep 7, 2016 12:41232370
Human right is a very general term [135 words]PrashantSep 10, 2016 12:37232370
1See, ISIS Really Has Nothing To Do With Islam [173 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveSep 6, 2016 18:53232364
Matters of "more" assaults, "more" time' [66 words]BUSep 6, 2016 18:51232363
WOMEN ARE FIGHTING [69 words]Celine LeducSep 6, 2016 17:06232362
2The Even More Clueless side of "Politically Correct" [96 words]Mike RamirezSep 6, 2016 13:28232354
3Burqa can be compared to Nazi regalia [99 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Michael SSep 6, 2016 12:58232352
Burqa [1431 words]Iftikhar AhmadSep 6, 2016 12:04232345
1Biggest defenders of Muslim womens "right" to wear Burkha are ... [144 words]PrashantSep 7, 2016 07:59232345
2Islamic societies must be obligated to be democratic [295 words]PrashantSep 7, 2016 08:24232345
1Public peace and safety, and the rule of law, are paramount [711 words]Michael S.Sep 7, 2016 08:38232345
1"The Bitter Lament of a Muslim Woman" [2630 words]Mike RamirezSep 7, 2016 14:09232345

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