Today, Dean Esmay has a strong post about conservatives who are making the claim that Islamic countries can never become democricies. He is calling out Michelle Malkin in particular.
Does the Conscience of a Conservative Still Exist?
This very statement–that Islam is incompatible with democracy–is why I fight so hard with many of my friends on the Right: accepting that statement means we have to declare war on the entire Muslim world if we’re to hope for human freedom to survive.
To me it would be akin to, in World War II, declaring ourselves at war with “Germanic People,” “Latin People,” and “Southeast Asians.” Not Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy and Tojo’s Japan. No, we would have declared that we were at war with anyone of Germanic or Latin descent, and anyone who happened to be short, yellow, and slant-eyed (to put it rudely and crassly).
There are some on the Right who believe this. But I think they’re badly hurting our efforts. I think such people on the Right are hurting the war effort and not helping it.
This is a very similar arguement to the one we recently discussed on the radio show between Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer,
Peters’ Assumption #1: the Islam of moderate Muslims is the genuine Islam, and all they need to do is “recapture” their faith. In fact it is not for Peters or any other non-Muslim to say what genuine Islam consists of, and there is no Pope of Islam to rule on what is Islamic orthodoxy and what isn’t. What we can do is look at the teachings of the various sects and schools of law — which I have done, and have found that all mainstream Sunni and Shi’ite sects and madhahib (schools of jurisprudence) teach that it is the responsibility of the umma to subjugate unbelievers under the rule of Sharia.
and Ralph Peters,
But a rotten core of American extremists is out to make it harder for them.
The most repugnant trend in the American shouting match that passes for a debate on the struggle with Islamist terrorism isn’t the irresponsible nonsense on the left – destructive though that is. The really ugly “domestic insurgency” is among right-wing extremists bent on discrediting honorable conservatism.
How? By insisting that Islam can never reform, that the violent conquest and subjugation of unbelievers is the faith’s primary agenda – and, when you read between the lines, that all Muslims are evil and subhuman.
I sympathize and understand with those who think Islam is simply incompatible with democracy. Just look around. When Islamic radicals slaughter innocents in the name of Allah, there is hardly a word of condemnation. When someone draws a cartoon of Mohammed or the Pope utters a benign statement of advancing religion through dialogue, the Muslim â??streetâ? leaps into action, has rallies in their capitals around the world and sets out to intimidate those who even question them.
However, as Dean points out, look at Afghanistan. Listen to what Harmid Karzi said this week. Wanting freedom and autonomy over oneâ??s live is a basic human desire. Democracy, maybe not as we know it, can work in Iraq, and elsewhere. I believe that. Given my relentless defense of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, count me in with Ralph, and Dean. Your thoughts?