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Many ways to be political and Muslim
In light of the continuing political uprising throughout the Middle East, American leaders are reported to be recalculating their approach to the 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?
Despite all the over-blown claims about the "clearly" positive meaning of Egypt's so-called January 25th Revolution by some, and the outright fear-mongering about the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood by others, the only thing that's clear, is that the situation in Egypt and throughout the Middle East's Muslims nations, is anything but clear. Whether or not the unfolding situation will bring positive change vis a vis the United States' relations with those countries depends on the level of openness which the parties can maintain.
Egypt, Tunisia and any other countries which join them in overthrowing non-democratic regimes will have to channel their passion for change, not only into democratic government, but into democracies which value openness and some form of rights-driven government which puts individual citizens ahead of any particular religious system. Neither Egypt, Tunisia, nor any other Muslim country is the US, nor should they be. They will however have to embrace unprecedented, for them at least, levels of cultural and legal openness if they hope to see a new era in relations with the United States.
United States policy-makers will have to figure out what it means to see hope where they have often trained themselves to see only hopelessness. They need to get past overly simplistic dichotomies which force us to choose between individual dictators and the dictatorship of a particular faith. 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. To be sure, no nation in the Muslim world has really done that, but places like Turkey are trying and we dare not declare impossible that which is simply unprecedented.
The future of US relations with Muslim countries depends on the willingness of both sides to open their collective minds to new possibilities and the discipline to realize that despite having taken some very interesting steps in the past weeks, the journey is far from over. In a world of over-eager apologists and small-minded cynics, we need clear-eyed optimists - people who know that naiveté can be deadly, but that without hope, we are already dead.
By
Brad Hirschfield
|
February 15, 2011; 2:52 PM ET
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Posted by: cecilg | February 20, 2011 8:29 AM
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So, Underboss, did the Lara Logan case eclipse all the noble things that the Egyptian protesters did? Many people died, hundreds injured. Yes, Lara Logan case is unfortunate and need to be condemned. But should it be your excuse to vent your hate toward Islam and Muslim. Could this incident happen in some US city under the lawlessness that prevailed in Egypt during the protest. I know a thing about Islam and I have not found that it’s OK to rape a woman. I do not know where did you find it. Women soldiers are routinely raped in US Army. Rapes had been used as a weapon in Congo—they are not Muslims.
Posted by: raihanshafiq | February 19, 2011 11:57 PM
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these people are animals and deserve none of our support
lara logan was beaten and gang raped in full view of thousands of men, most did nothing, hundreds cheered the attackers on
islam has for centuries advocated the rape of women and children as just punishment
how can we offer support for a "religion" (and that word is used loosely here) that taxes religions different than their own and subjugates half its population to virtual indentured servant status
as a liberal i can not support islam in any way, shape or form
criminalize islam
Posted by: underboss | February 17, 2011 6:57 PM
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Brad Hirschfield:
I always enjoy your posts. In this one, as you usually do, you made several important points. Perhaps the most important thing you said was, "the journey (toward a brighter future) is far from over."
I really liked your closing sentence:
In a world of over-eager apologists and small-minded cynics, we need clear-eyed optimists - people who know that naiveté can be deadly, but that without hope, we are already dead.
This applies to the Middle East and to almost every topic discussed on ON FAITH.
Thanks for your thoughts.
"