From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...: Pipes: Militant Islam Must Be Destroyed

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Pipes: Militant Islam Must Be Destroyed

April 07, 2004

The indispensable Daniel Pipes cites a new Rand Corporation publication on modernizing Islam: that objective is as crucial, if not more so, than tactical counter-terrorism, he says.

Cheryl Benard is the author, the title is "Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies." Here's a direct, Rand link to order the print version, or download the whole thing for free. Pipes writes:

Benard recognizes the awesome ambition of the effort to modernize Islam: If nation-building is a daunting task, she notes, religion-building ''is immeasurably more perilous and complex.'' This is something never tried before; we enter uncharted territory here.
Civil Democratic Islam covers three topics: rival Muslim approaches to Islam; which approach contributes most to a moderate version of Islam; and policy recommendations for Western governments.

...Benard then proposes a strategy for religion-building with several prongs:

*Delegitimize the immorality and hypocrisy of fundamentalists. Encourage investigative reporting into the corruption of their leaders. Criticize the flaws of traditionalism, especially its promoting backwardness.

*Support modernists first. Support secularists on a case-by-case basis. Back traditionalists tactically against fundamentalists. Consistently oppose fundamentalists.

*Assertively promote the values of Western democratic modernity. Encourage secular civic and cultural institutions. Focus on the next generation. Provide aid to states, groups and individuals with the right attitudes.

Pipes concludes:

I agree with Benard's general approach, doubting only her enthusiasm for Muslim modernists, a group that through two centuries of effort has failed to help reconcile Islam with current realities......
Instead of modernists, I propose mainstream secularists as the forward-looking Muslims who uniquely can wrench their co-religionists out of their current slough of despair and radicalism. Secularists start with the proven premise of disentangling religion from politics; not only has this served the Western world well, but it has also worked in Turkey, the Muslim success story of our time.

Only when Muslims turn to secularism will this terrible era of their history come to an end.

Via Real Clear Politics.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 7, 2004 09:04 AM

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Comments:

A good model for encouraging secularism and religious modernism can be found - surprisingly - in Iran. Iran has a rather repressive theocracy, one ruled by severely fundamentalist Shi'ite clergy (definitely no dancing in the streets).

Yet, the younger population, which happens to make up the majority of the country (and well-educated to boot) is enamored with Western clothing, music and, yes, political ideas.

They get these from illegal satellite dishes that are found everywhere on rooftops of Tehran.

So, the best tools for religious modernization, ironically enough, are Brittany Spears and Michael Jackson, rather than "assertively promoting Western democratic values."

Posted by: James Na at April 8, 2004 10:08 AM

The cultural is political, you are dead right, James. "Whiskey, Democracy, Sexy" as that Iraqi sage said after the U.S. came in last year. After Al-Sadr is extinguished, Al-Sistani will see his influence moderated by Iraq's thirst for all modernity's trappings.

Posted by: Matt Rosenberg at April 8, 2004 11:01 AM

Yes, something about religious fundamentalists banning dancing in the streets and rock music on radio that really pisses off the population and turns it against the extremists.

Iranians are practically ready to throw off the mullahs' yoke themselves! As was shown on American TV some time ago, one Iranian woman was even brave enough to approach an American news crew in a crowded market place and declared in broken English that she wants Americans to do what they did to Taliban and do it to the Iranian government as well. She enthusiastically declared that the great majority of Iranians would welcome it.

I do not say this as a suggestion that the US should invade Iran (!), but rather as an illustration that the lures of Western culture and politics are irresistible and require no "hard" selling.

Posted by: James Na at April 9, 2004 06:13 PM

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