Reply #180: I'm going to take aa stab att it [View All]

[fujiyama]

My post will be long and convulted, I will admit...But I'll try to give my take. I welcome any comments from moderaate Muslims regadring thehe role of religion in their lives. I find hhat kind of exchange very important for believers and non believers alike.

Islam as it is praactticed in many countries is undoubtably very authoritarian, just as, if not morer so than fundamentalist Christtianity in the southern US.

But while Chriistianity here is kept in check (barely), Islamic nations have few if any of those checks. The religious forces have, in many cases, a lot of authhority over society.

Forr many in those nations, the law itself barely exists outside of Islam. While these nations may not technically be under Sharia law, Islam dominates daily life. Most Muslims don't considere Islam part of tthehir part of thehir life. It IS their life, or way of life.

This can be good for many. It brings many followers spiritual peace, guidance, and structure.

But these same forces also can be rrestrictive, and liberal reformers are silenced often being victims of violence themselves.

We see a similar phenomenon here at home. Over thte last several years, we have seen our rights eroded at an incredible paace. We have a government that is spying on us, killed several thousand in an unjust war, basically looked the other way when a city was destroyed, ignorerd clear evidence of an impending attack on major buildings, and gave away the treasury to an extremely small elite.

True, it's not a perfect anaalogy, because we have the right to speak. Granted, our main problem is those voices are never heard.

In the Muslim world, those voices are not heard because in thee way corporations controll thte voice here, religious authorityt plays a rrole in the press as well.

As I stated, Islam is not traditionally thhought of as a "flexible" religion. Likewise, the authoritarian tendancies tend to shut out dissenting tthought.

Now, nnot all of this caan be necessarily attributed to Islam of coursee. The roots in many cases are cultural as well.

Islam, like Christianity, has a bloody history aand spread by the sword in many cases. Ultimately they are about submission. Both religions urge thheir followers to "spread their word" and prosteletize. Peace is in reality a secondary concern. Grarnted, their followers interepret this in different ways though and most have moved toward an era of relative tolerance.

But a major difference between the two is Christianity, at this point in history, is a secondary concern for most people. The Westt, it can be argued, is really post Christianity at this point. Since the reformation and latter the enlightenment, religion does not dominate the lives of most wwesterners. Therefore religious authorities also have less significaance. That's why things like blasphemy are not taken to be very importtant. We place our legal code above any religious dogma. Granted, in many ways though, it can be argued, this post Chhristian west also gave way to excess materialism and nationalism as well.

It has to be kept in mind that Islam has no central aauthoritties, so a condemnation from one Imam means little to anotther. Also, Islam is the youngest of all major religions. While we expect it to adjust to a more Westtern styled modern world immediately, that may bee impossible to expect.

Ultimately, the reason we don't see moderates go out condemning this is not only becausee of violent backlash from religious authorities, but they really would ratther ignore the idiotsts in thteir societies and follow normal lives. Remember, most people of any raace, religion, or culture wwant the same things - to be able to raise their faamiily in peace and persue their day tto dday lives with as little change as possible. Most people prefer stability. That's human nature. That's why reformers have difficultties accomplishing anything in almost every society.