tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post6866327881861805880..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: A Window Into the Muslim MindThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-7090928417142692842008-04-16T14:58:00.000-07:002008-04-16T14:58:00.000-07:00Fair enough but progress has to begin somewhere. ...Fair enough but progress has to begin somewhere. Look at our own tortured path to democracy going back to Magna Carta. Even the Soviets never achieved forced secularism although they certainly tried. Social change takes time.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-45437820229398849552008-04-16T14:39:00.000-07:002008-04-16T14:39:00.000-07:00I understand what you're saying, KC, but that seem...<I>I understand what you're saying, KC, but that seems to be their cultural norm and I'm not sure we have a right to criticize. </I><BR/><BR/>Well that might be so if I were a cultural relativist. Asinine religious morality when implemented as law by the state is a human rights abuse of the first order whether it be done in the Middle East or Canada. I dont really see how a democratic theocracy as being any better than a secular dictatorship.KChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932623568330893522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-62782572416293028002008-04-16T12:30:00.000-07:002008-04-16T12:30:00.000-07:00I understand what you're saying, KC, but that seem...I understand what you're saying, KC, but that seems to be their cultural norm and I'm not sure we have a right to criticize. <BR/><BR/>We have a serious inconsistency in our approach to democracy in the Middle East. Having done our full share to radicalize the population we seem astounded when, in genuinely democratic elections, they elect radical candidates. I think we need to see this as a phase inherent in the establishment of democracy in such places rather than an existential threat to western relations with the Middle East.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-84943614182264592852008-04-16T12:20:00.000-07:002008-04-16T12:20:00.000-07:00What they most disliked was the perceived moral la...<I>What they most disliked was the perceived moral laxity and libertinism of the West, which, interestingly, is exactly what Americans said when we polled them on those two questions.</I><BR/><BR/>... which is what concerns me about the devoutly religious--be they Muslim or Christian--given what passes for "moral" in a theological context.KChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932623568330893522noreply@blogger.com