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THE QUESTION
A secular revolt?
In light of the continuing political uprising throughout the Middle East, American leaders are reported to be recalculating their approach to Muslim world.
Politico's Ben Smith wrote this week that the Obama administration "clearly sees an opportunity," signaling "that they're hoping the changes in Tunisia and Egypt spread, and that they're going to align themselves far more clearly with the young, relatively secular masses" in countries like Iran, Algeria and Lebanon.
Is this a new moment for American relations with Muslim countries? Is freedom a religious or secular idea?
Posted by
On Faith on February 14, 2011 5:12 PM
FROM THE PANEL
Can the Middle East really offer freedom for all?
Most people around the world, including most Jews, wish the people of the North Africa and the Middle East their best hopes.
Posted by Shmully Hecht, on February 18, 2011 3:31 PM
Freedom is God-given
It is in the truth that every human being finds true freedom, and it is in the Church that we discover the liberating truth that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.
Posted by Danielle Bean, on February 18, 2011 10:51 AM
Truth and freedom: a just peace paradigm shift
Jesus taught a discipline of radical love that leads to a liberating truth. This truth is one that insists upon social and economic justice.
Posted by Valerie Elverton Dixon, on February 17, 2011 5:32 PM
Secularism: the more responsive, inclusive government
Freedom is a human desire with a religious basis for believers (the value of each person).
Posted by Joel Hunter, on February 17, 2011 2:26 PM
Which First comes first?
In many ways the question boils down to whether one prioritizes the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof") or the First Commandment ("You shall have no other gods before me.") Many cultures have a difficult time reconciling the two. But a truly secular posture allows the two to coexist not just harmoniously but in a mutually respectful way.
Posted by Jason Poling, on February 16, 2011 2:00 PM
Government machinations and religious strife in Egypt
While legal reform is certainly in order, and even as religious groups have shown themselves capable of respecting one another, the problem of religious intolerance will never be defeated if the government is secretly planting seeds of strife by contriving attacks in order to fulfill its ulterior motives.
Posted by Asma T. Uddin, on February 16, 2011 1:52 PM
Secular or religious? Why make enemies when we don't have to?
It would be a huge mistake for American foreign policy to equate a "freedom agenda" with secularism and rule out the possibility that there is just as much, if not more, dynamism in the Islam of young Muslims around the world as there is among those who self-identify as secular.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on February 16, 2011 1:40 PM
Freedom is universal
Freedom, as we understand it here in America, or as it emerges in Egypt, is a universal idea that belongs to all of us. Neither the religious nor secular world can claim exclusive ownership, but both have important roles to play in protecting it.
Posted by Welton Gaddy, on February 16, 2011 1:01 PM
Freedom is a human idea -- Alleluia!
This may be the moment the USA steps fully into the 21st century, shedding the polarities of the Cold War and its child, the War on Terror.
Posted by Janet Edwards, on February 15, 2011 3:10 PM
Many ways to be political and Muslim
We need to embrace the notion that there are many ways to create the kind of political and legal cultures which we treasure, including the possibility of doing so within an Islamic context.
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on February 15, 2011 2:52 PM
Time to walk the talk in Mideast
The end of the Mubarak regime demonstrates the falsity of commonly held stereotypes: Arabs reject democracy, Islam is incompatible with popular sovereignty, the grip of rulers of security states is unshakable.
Posted by John Esposito, on February 15, 2011 2:48 PM
A two-faced freedom
Around the globe, we are witnessing nations and peoples striving towards greater freedom. It is thrilling to see this fundamental need finding its voice in a fight against tyranny. However, which sort of freedom will prevail?
Posted by Serene Jones, on February 15, 2011 1:59 PM
Freedom: secularism's gift to the world
Across the Christian and Muslim worlds, almost every concept we associate with freedom arose in reaction to Abrahamic religion
Posted by Tom Flynn, on February 15, 2011 1:43 PM
Liberty, not just freedom, for the Middle East
he best hope for Egypt is that Islamic, Coptic, and Jewish Egyptians can revive the marriage between private piety and public liberty that Locke envisioned. They must do so in a way natural to Egyptian language and costumes, and the great monotheist faiths have the resources to do this job.
Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on February 15, 2011 12:43 PM
Freedom is both a religious and secular idea
In touting genuine religious freedom -- and its constitutional corollary, the separation of church and state -- we Baptists often hold up 17th century preacher Roger Williams' "hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world."
Posted by J. Brent Walker, on February 15, 2011 11:59 AM
Religion: the ultimate tyranny
True freedom requires us to liberate ourselves from the tyranny of religion as well as from the tyranny of brutal earthly regimes.
Posted by Paula Kirby, on February 15, 2011 11:35 AM
Youth yearn to be free
The freedoms we see being called for in Africa and the Middle East today transcend religious boundaries and speak to the very condition of all humanity.
Posted by Max Carter, on February 15, 2011 7:53 AM
Consistent values for an inconsistent world
If we want to be respected throughout the world, we need to be consistent on values we promote: the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all humans; justice and peace in the world; equal rights for men and women; freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the right to change or even denounce religion.
Posted by Herb Silverman, on February 15, 2011 7:01 AM
Freedom is a God-given legacy
All people of goodwill, and surely all people of faith, wait with measured hope.
Posted by David Wolpe, on February 14, 2011 8:34 PM
What happens after freedom?
Freedom is a universal concept which will only be meaningful when citizens are empowered are not exploited by anyone -- politicians, religious leaders, economic giants or cultural demagogues!
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on February 14, 2011 5:45 PM
