tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post4474271515871670383..comments2024-01-22T18:22:29.391-08:00Comments on hedera's corner: Democracy in Iranhederahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-77955153187733340972009-06-25T12:14:07.690-07:002009-06-25T12:14:07.690-07:00The developments of the last few days make an Isla...The developments of the last few days make an Islamic Reformation look less likely than it did. The Iranian government has no qualms about shooting people just because they're in the street, or locking up 70 people because they met to discuss whether to continue to challenge the election. If the Iranian people want real democracy, and it sounds as though they may, they're going to have to be willing to take heavy casualties. Their government is quite willing to kill to stay in power. Surprise.hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-36531282477886436382009-06-21T11:48:52.051-07:002009-06-21T11:48:52.051-07:00My suspicion is that Americans are becoming more &...My suspicion is that Americans are becoming more "religious" in their thinking. It isn't at all inconceivable that Islam--in the increasingly dumbed-down state of American life--could sweep across the Western democracies, undermining the roots of our "enlightened" institutions. This is certainly what radical Islamists believe, and hope for. It's insidious. <br /><br />I'm not saying the sky is falling, but I'm less and less surprised by what happens these days.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-35284888606643495772009-06-21T11:06:16.267-07:002009-06-21T11:06:16.267-07:00Of course Islam isn't going away, any more tha...Of course Islam isn't going away, any more than Christianity is. The issue in Iran is a really quite pure debate over the separation of church and state. In Iran's current arrangement, the church rules the state; the people of Iran appear to be engaged in an (unfortunately violent) debate over whether that should continue. <br /><br />Sure Islam has a theocratic bent. So does the Catholic Church, and until the Reformation, the Catholic Church was quite as much in charge in western Europe as the ayatollahs are in Iran. (Remember Henri IV's remark that "Paris vaut bien une messe"?) Does the Catholic Church rule over the secular government anywhere now?<br /><br />I believe Iran is in the early stages of an Islamic variant of the Reformation. I was wondering when some part of Islam would start to emerge from the Middle Ages. The Reformation in western Europe took most of two centuries and spilled a lot of blood; and there wasn't even the example of a United States of America where church and state <i>are</i> separated; that came later.<br /><br />It's too much to expect the Islamic Reformation to be any less messy than the Christian edition...hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-74894293248363797622009-06-21T10:29:31.667-07:002009-06-21T10:29:31.667-07:00Islam isn't going away soon.
In fact, Islam...Islam isn't going away soon. <br /><br />In fact, Islam, as a worldwide phenomenon, is the fastest growing religious institution in the world. <br /><br />There are real concerns about the short- and long-term effects this may have on parliamentary democracies. Islam has a theocratic bent: It is based on a complete co-option of believers' lives. For Muslims, there can be no true distinction between politics and religion, state and church. <br /><br />On the contrary, the growing militancy of Islam across the world, suggests that, rather than shrinking in significance and influence, Islam's power and reach are increasing.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.com