A Gallup poll, just released, represents the views of 90% of the world's one billion plus Muslims. The findings will be incorporated in a book to be published next month, entitled "Who Speaks for Islam? What A Billion Muslims Really Think."This poll was huge, involving over 50,000 Muslims in 35 countries. One of its major findings was that most of the respondents wanted the Western world to stop being so negative about Muslims and Islam.
This survey started before 9/11. "The overwhelming majority of those asked condemned them (the 9/11 attacks) based on religious reasons."
The poll is the response by Gallup's chairman, Jim Clifton, to President Bush's question in 2001: "Why do they hate us?"
What's interesting is, according to one of the authors of the book, John Esposito, that Muslims don't necessarily hate us. Even the 7% who considered themselves "radicals," "admire the West for its democracy and freedoms. However, they do not want such things imposed on them.
"Muslims want self-determination, but not an American-imposed and defined democracy. They don't want secularism or theocracy."
Esposito said "What the majority wants is democracy with religious values."
The poll also indicated that "most Muslims want guarantees of freedom of speech and would not want religious leaders to have a role in drafting constitutions."
Some of this is certainly hopeful. But pieces are missing. Reading about the poll, I felt like I was putting together a jigsaw puzzle, lacking a few, very vital pieces.
Certainly, we can understand the desire to be free from compulsion--no one likes things imposed on them, not even democracy. (Are you listening, King George?)
The poll discovered "They don't want secularism or theocracy." They want "democracy with religious values."
A democracy must, by definition, be secular, because a democracy is pluralistic. This, it seems to me, is the deal-breaker with the Muslims. What does a "democracy with religious values" mean to them? That was not spelled out in the brief review of the poll that I read. But that's a critical piece of the puzzle.
A democracy can have people living under its secular rule that have religious values. That's the American way! But a democracy cannot have a government that promotes "religious values."
Which religious values would be the correct ones? In a Muslim democracy, would this mean Sharia law? Probably not, according to the poll, as the respondents were against having religious leaders involved in drawing up a constitution.
But the question remains unanswered. And it is unanswerable. The government, if it is to function as a government for all the people, cannot operate under or promote "religious values." It can promote human values that most people have come to cherish, as does the United States. But nowhere in the United States Constitution is there reference to a God or to religious values as foundational.
Unfortunately, 90% of the world's Muslims still don't understand how a democracy works.
1 comment:
The natures of democracies run the gambit in terms of what values they are infused with. Democracy does not by nature necessitate secularism - that is a shallow statement and lacks any of the necessary nuance. Aside from the fact that secularism often interacts within societies very similarly to religion, there are states that sponsor religion whose commitment to democracy we wouldn't for a moment second guess. Norway, Denmark, Israel. Christian democratic parties are common in many fully functional democratic countries. Religious values are an inherent part of democracies such as America's, that is not something that can be ignored. There is no monolithic answer as to how democracies can be run. When Muslims express, as this poll shows, a desire for democracy in the same sense Americans view democracy, as well as a desire to keep religious leaders out of the lawmaking process, it reflects almost identical sentiments as Americans. Muslims understand democracy.
Post a Comment