Re WeAreAllDanes 's The Koran and Democracy

Submitted by Bader S (Saudi Arabia), Mar 5, 2006 at 04:24

Thank you for clarifying the idea of democracy further.

You make some very good points in your argument and I respect the opinions that you shared.

There are many Muslims who are trying to reconcile their religion with 21st Century modernity, and the incompatibility that you speak of between Islam and democracy or between Islam and a Republican form of government is not set in stone. The majority of Muslims find that these incompatibilities can be minimized.

Admitedly, there are Muslims who do not want a progressive Islam and would rather see no change take place. But these Muslims are in the minority, even though they speak the loudest.

You say that elections in the ME gets you Hamas, but what alternative is there? Fatah that was in power the past ten years was corrupt and dictatorial. They misgoverned the occupied territories and were unable to lessen the plight of their people.
Moderates in Palestine were not given voice ( just like moderates in most of the Arab countries), and were in fact sidelined by both the Fatah ruling party and by Israel. So it is not surprising that the only people that are able to organize under dictatorships are the Islamists, and their organizations have now proved successful in ME elections.

---

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".