…Islamists.
Islamists have probably killed, maimed, kidnapped, or threatened more Muslims than any other group in the world, be it Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or secular.
Islamists are among a long line of the supposedly devout that think they know better than anybody else what God/Allah wants.
Islamists have strengthened the hand of militant “Christians” who want to constrain all Muslims, regardless of how well they fit in or stand apart from the society they are in. Anti-Muslim parties are springing up in many countries, including Sweden and France.
The number of Muslims who actively oppose Islamists far exceeds those who support Islamists. The problem is that most anti-Islamist Muslims do not have AK-47s and do not blow themselves up; they only have their cell phones.
If you have a twitter account, see #notinmyname. If not, see https://twitter.com/hashtag/notinmyname. As could be predicted, a wide range of views are expressed, from Muslims who just want to go about their lives in a secular society to those who want to tar all Muslims with the actions of a few.
Showing posts with label secular. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secular. Show all posts
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Freedom and democracy: It's not what you believe but what you do
I find it very hard to read Charles Krauthammer; I think he is very rigid in his thinking. When he wrote in his latest column, "From freedom agenda to freedom doctrine", Washington Post, 2011-02-10, that George Bush and the neo-cons were the only ones interested in promoting freedom and democracy, I stopped reading.
What he ignores is that the neo-cons solution was to bring freedom and democracy at the point of a gun. We can see how well that is working in Iraq and Afghanistan where chaos is more the norm. What he ignores is that the Egyptians have started on a path to freedom and democracy, not with guns but with their gums. They did it not with outside armies but by themselves.
In writing this, I did go back and skim Krauthammer's article. He does make a good point with the second point of his Freedom Doctrine, but most of the rest is a call for the world being as we think it should be, not as others may want it.
A much better read is "They Did It", Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 2011-02-12, written in Cairo. One of the best quotes is, "Because the Obama team never found the voice to fully endorse the Tahrir Square revolution until it was over, the people in that square now know one very powerful thing: They did this all by themselves."
What he ignores is that the neo-cons solution was to bring freedom and democracy at the point of a gun. We can see how well that is working in Iraq and Afghanistan where chaos is more the norm. What he ignores is that the Egyptians have started on a path to freedom and democracy, not with guns but with their gums. They did it not with outside armies but by themselves.
In writing this, I did go back and skim Krauthammer's article. He does make a good point with the second point of his Freedom Doctrine, but most of the rest is a call for the world being as we think it should be, not as others may want it.
A much better read is "They Did It", Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 2011-02-12, written in Cairo. One of the best quotes is, "Because the Obama team never found the voice to fully endorse the Tahrir Square revolution until it was over, the people in that square now know one very powerful thing: They did this all by themselves."
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