FOSTERING A DEMOCRATIC ISLAM
Karen Armstrong, Washington Post, 9/10/02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59586-2002Sep9.html
Most fundamentalists do not take part in acts of terror but simply want to
see their faith reflected more clearly in public life. Nevertheless, it is
crucial that the United States, as the sole superpower, work to create the
conditions that will enable this religious resurgence to remain healthy,
and recognize that an ill-considered political policy is likely to trigger
a rogue religious response in the Islamic world.
The bedrock message of the Koran is that Muslims must build a just and
decent society, in which poor and vulnerable people are treated with
respect. Hence politics has always had near-sacramental importance in
Islam. If Muslims see their community humiliated by a foreign power or
corrupted by a tyrannical regime, they can feel as religiously distressed
as a Christian who sees the Bible traduced.
Yet it is also essential that the United States dissociate itself from its
own Christian fundamentalists, who in recent months have described Islam as
"wicked" and "evil," creating a climate of hatred that we simply cannot
afford. If, in the event of another attack, a backlash against Arab
Americans were to occur, extremism would run rife in the Islamic world.
Further, American Muslims could provide a much-needed bridge between East
and West, and many are eager to fulfill this role. They regard the freedom
they enjoy in the United States as an ideal environment for true religion.
Americans should support Muslim initiatives to build a spiritually and
intellectually vibrant American Islam, which could counter extremism at
home and abroad…
Karen Armstrong has written extensively on religion and is the author of
"The Battle for God," a history of fundamentalism.
-----
----------------------------------------------------------------
Visitez http://www.mAliLink.net pour vous deconnecter
Service offert par http://www.afribone.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) mAliLink