On Katsav, religion, ideology, secularism, and the defense of liberal values

Submitted by Pro-Israeli Democrat (United States), May 9, 2006 at 17:05

First off, I believe that Katsav's remarks were bold and perhaps necessary, albeit inaccurate. Islam is far from monolithic by any means. How the Quran is interpreted differs from country to country and from culture to culture. Here are two contrasting examples: In secular Senegal, Muslims and Catholics intermarry, and prayers are often read by women. Imams and other Muslim scholars discuss contraceptives, abortions, safe sex, and how to avoid the AIDS virus. In Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, women play a very limited role in society. As for the clergy, they call for violent jihad, and the state denies that AIDS does, in fact, exist. Still, we cannot deny that the Islamic World is in some very dire straits, the equivalent of what the Dark Ages were for Christians.

I would like nothing more than to see what Canadian Author, lesbian, and practicing Shiite Muslim Irshad Manji would consider a renaissance within Islam. Muslims need to begin taking responsibility both for their actions and for the actions of their kin. Religious leaders must speak up. We need more Manjis, more Khatamis, and less Khomeinis and Zawahiris. What happens in the next few years will probably determine what the future of Europe is going to be like. Will we wind up seeing a Eurabia? The biggest problem in the Muslim world [and the world in general] is that there is such a problem in the Muslim world to begin with.

Thus, Katsav took a very important step. Until we address the problem, then how can we solve it. Yet, I am not speaking for all Muslims. I know quite a few, most of whom are lovely people. Furthermore, Islam is far from the only religion that I am critical of. As an agnostic/atheist [although I often refer to myself as "a secular Jew"], I have bones to pick with most religions, from Islam to Christianity to Zoroastrianism [in spite of my respect for all religions].

It is easy to do so here in America, where religion has begun playing too strong of a role in politics. To me, the separation of church/mosque/synagogue and state and the defense of liberal values such as freedom of speech, reproductive freedom [including the right to an abortion] and the rule of law are the most important things in the world. This is why I supported Denmark during the cartoon controversy and even support republication of the cartoons [even though they may be extremely unwise]. This is also why I consider Evangelical Christianity to be a black mark upon secular America. Like the Islamic militants, Evangelical Christians [some, not all] want to destroy secular society and take over the world. As more states attack abortion and gay rights, my anger with the Evangelists only continues to grow.

As for intelligent design: How on earth could one think that biblical nonsense can pass for science when we have a fossil record to prove otherwise. Those trying to bring America backwards rather than forwards do not belong here. To George W. Bush and his Evangelist cronies: Stop trying to turn America into Iran and no thanks for leading us into the Iraq quagmire, instead of using resources to rebuild a liberated Afghanistan. In fact, I get furious when the evangelists criticize Islam, no matter how critical I am. They are in no position to criticize another religion as they attempt to subordinate our country in their skillful, conniving, albeit less violent methods. Simply put, they want to turn America into a @&*%*&% biblical theme park. They even try to exploit Israel for their own benefit, and they really don't care about the Jews.

One of my few criticisms of the Israeli State is its connection to the Christian right. Both Americans and Israelis should beware. Evangelical Christians think they will bring about the apocalypse. Bush even said that "God" told him to strike at Saddam Hussein. This is the kind of idiocy we are dealing with. Is this why we are wasting $811 billion on Iraq when we could spend it on healthcare? We will not fall for biblical fairy tales and fables. If we do, then it will destroy us.

On Catholicism I have far less criticisms [for most practitioners lack the grandiose ambitions of the evangelists], but still, I have this point to make. I admired Pope John Paul II greatly. I still do. He was a defender of human rights, an opponent of capital punishment and advocate of benevolence and political freedom. Yet, he also joined the church in declaring contraception "a sin". In the age of AIDS, particularly in third world countries with sizeable Catholic populations and high HIV infection rates [and I use Nigeria as an example], such rationales are extremely dangerous. In fact, they can result in millions of needless deaths [especially when research shows that abstinence-only education does not work. Young people must know what condoms are and how they work].

My point is that religion in general is what is holding the world backward. People should have the right to practice whatever religion they want to [including both Evangelical Christianity and Wahhabi Islam] so long as they do not use religion to subordinate the rest of the world. Unfortunately, that is becoming increasingly hard for many to do. Thus, all who value secular society should worry about what both Muslims AND fundamentalist Christians are trying to do to the West.

As a supporter of Israel, I was also extremely disturbed when I saw a documentary about the violent fringes of the settler community there [the so-called Kahanists, the most violent sect of Judaism]. Let's keep it short and simple: These nutcases wish to destroy the current Israeli state, rebuild the temple mount, and create a theocracy. In 1995, one of them, Yigal Amir, shot and killed Yitzhak Rabin and, with him, the Arab/Israeli peace process. If these settlers don't like living in a liberal democracy, then they should get out.

Would I support their "Kingdom of Israel" if these settlers ever took over [which I don't think they ever will]? Absolutely not. Why not? For the same reason I don't support Iran and Saudi Arabia. I do not support Israel because I was born Jewish. I support it because it is a secular, liberal, democratic state -- a Republic that is governed by the rule of law, rather than by decree. I feel the same way about the Kahanist settlers in the West Bank that I do about Islamic Radicals in Europe and the Christian Evangelists here.

Secularists have had enough of the religious ideologues, whether they be Muslim, Christian, Jewish, etc. Unfortunately, even Western governments are not immune from ideology. What Katsav said was an important step. Now, it is time for Western leaders to address something that is not solely a matter of Islam, but of ALL religions. Religion is for the church, synagogue, mosque, and home. It is not for politics. People have the right to belive what they want to believe, but if they don't want to they don't have to believe anything.

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".