Kedivar's words about reform are much needed, even if his claims that Islam supports freedom and democracy run against the plain sense of the Qur'an and Sunnah -- that is, unless he means freedom and democracy for Muslim men only. In any case, his words will win lip service from self-proclaimed moderates, opprobrium from radicals, and not much action from anyone. From MEMRI:
The director of the Association for the Defense of Journalism in Iran, Dr. Mohsen Kedivar, participated in a seminar titled "Towards Democracy" at the Law and Political Science Faculty of the University of Tehran. In a speech, he addressed the issue of tyranny and democracy in Iran, noting that Iranian society had experienced two types of tyranny: secular tyranny under the Shah's regime, and religious tyranny under the regime of the Islamic Revolution. ...Kedivar states that Islam is a religion related to time and location, and that it is the people who must decide how society should be run. He sees democracy as the best way of managing society's affairs, but does not preach secularism, and even opposes secularists who call for separation of religion and state. He has in the past been tried and imprisoned for his writings. The following are excerpts from his speech at the seminar:
[...]
"[There are] two groups which do not support freedom or democracy: [The first group is] those who support the totalitarian interpretation of religion and Islam, and [the second group is] the secular Iranians and foreigners who equate Islam with totalitarianism... The secular view religion as matter for the individual. When the officials of the regime are religious and advocate religious rule, they are permitted to propose [religious rule to the public] as a public matter, but even then [the endorsement of this principle should] be dependent upon its acceptance by the majority..."
Islam Promotes Freedom and Democracy
"[The adherents of the second interpretation, i.e.] democratic Islam, view religion as based upon democratic principles... Islam, [in their opinion,] is - for most - a way of life related to time and place... According to the first interpretation [i.e., the totalitarian interpretation of Islam], Islam is contradictory to democracy and impedes it. But according to the second interpretation, not only is [Islam] not contradictory to democracy, but it is even considered a catalyst in its [implementation]. ...
"It is incumbent upon Muslims to reevaluate the existing religious traditions and to reform religious and democratic [values]. They must accept the fact that democracy is the only way to run the social and political affairs [of society]."
Robert,
Kedivar's statement:
"It is incumbent upon Muslims to reevaluate the existing religious traditions and to reform religious and democratic [values]. They must accept the fact that democracy is the only way to run the social and political affairs [of society]."
I can tell you that over the decades, first being raised Roman Catholic, and then as an anti-fascist, that one need only replace "Muslim" in the above statement with virtually any major or minor denomination in this country and it would still apply.
Kedivar could have just as easily been a faculty member at a Jesuit University in the 1960's or 1970's giving the lecture (adjusted, of course for denominational and geographical diferences)cited in the MEMRI article. I have stood in lecture halls, classrooms,assembly halls and churches over the last several decades and listened to this self-same condescending "logic" from Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, and Methodist "intellectuals" nearly all my life.
God lives because God lives, not because theocratic "intellectuals" argue for his existence. This is what St. Bonaventure meant when he labeled St. Thomas Aquinas the "Father of All Heretics" because his "Summa Theologica" among other writings, attempted to intelectualize faith. And just as anyone who is in love does not need to be told they are in love,someone who has Faith doesn't need to be told there is a God. Conversely, those without faith or unsure of their faith are motivated by fantasy ideologies and the need for validation and concurrence from the people around them, just as those least sure of their sexual identity demand stark, clear gender "definitions" and those who need to be told they're heterosexual want a "Marriage Protection Act" so desperately.
The greatest hinderance to our struggle against radical Islam and it's attack upon the West,is not our Bill of Rights, our Liberalism (in the classic sense),or even the "thin veil of sympathizers" both left and right, but the "mote in our own eye".
Unless, of course, the outcome is determined by a good old-fashioned medieval joust between us and the Islamists...using our motes in place of lances....
I've said it before, and I'll say it again;
Islam has a reformation underway, it's called 'Wahabism'
It's the last thing we need.
Democracy, or a form of it that recognizes the power of the individual and his desires for freedom of expression in his opinions as well as the right to vote is the cornerstone of a democracy.
Islam is not without its efforts to move into the 20th century. Many Islamic scholars have recognized this need as the world changed over the past 150 years.
Jadidism was a movement to do just that in Russia and East Asia starting 150 years ago. The Jadidists recognized the need for Islam to transform itself into a more modern Islam and tried to envision what Mohammed may have done differently as times changed in the world
culture. Unfortunatly much of that effort was crushed by the emergence of the Soviet Union into communism in the early 1920s` under Lenin.
Moderate muslim intellects realize the need for some form of democracy if they are to stay up with the modern world. Islam can be in step with democracy without fully embracing secularism. A secular society is not the answer in any form . The need to hold onto a countries foundational roots from religious values and teachings is important .
So there can be a certain degree of separation of church and state as long as government holds dear to its foundational values. This is the on going struggle today that even America is dealing with as organizations like the ACLU strive for a secularized nation which would seriously erode the values that America was founded on.
People in the West who call for a "Reformation" in Islam understand neither the Protestant Reformation nor Islam. Usually, they are people steeped in a liberal tradition that takes the Mainline denominations (the Anglican church which Melanie Philips recently lambasted, for instance)as the heirs of Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin, which they manifestly no longer are.
Frankly, were I a moderately informed Muslim, and saw once-great religious organizations running as hard as they can to remain a respectful five paces behind their cultured despisers (The crowd that is horrified by priests seducing young men, while cheering for gay marriage, for example), I'd say, "I don't want this!"
A Reformation based on the Old and New Testaments (something modern Christendom needs badly) can simultaneously imnprove morals by improving people while instituting consensual, pluralist forms of government (the Bible limits the king by Torah, shows collegial church government in the NT, and teaches that we must obey God rather than men--Ac. 5:29--after all). The Bible also was written from perspectives other than those of an ambitious warlord. While expressing a desire for vengence at many places, it also counsels that vengeance is the Lord's rather than ours.
Indeed, Islam has its "reformation" (deformation?) in Wahabbism. What Islam really needs is mass defections to Christianity.
Kedivar states that Islam is a religion related to time and location,
True: 7th Century Bedrock
I understand that the call for reform is probably not going to work, but I can't very well allow critics to say I didn't try for a peaceful resolution.
Be under no illusion: I am fairly certain how the timeline will play out and the chances are uncomfortably high that the United States is heading for war and the Islamists are going to learn the folly of awakening the freedom loving giant.
The main reason that the Islamists so badly underestimate American resolve is because most of them have not tasted real freedom and they don't fight to preserve it, that much is definitely clear.
Reform will come, one way or another. That much I do know. It's just the manner of this reform that should be the concern of the Middle East and Indonesia.
Damn all these ignorant fools that are pulling us toward so much loss of life.
Rather than a Reformation, what Islam needs is an Enlightenment.
Enlightenment: A philosophical movement of the 18th century that emphasized the use of reason to scrutinize previously accepted doctrines and traditions and that brought about many humanitarian reforms.
Kepha said, "Indeed, Islam has its "reformation" (deformation?) in Wahabbism. What Islam really needs is mass defections to Christianity."
I TOTALLY AGREE! I have read some writings by former Muslims who have embraced Christianity, and it was very encouraging.
Yes, I would say that Christianity is the exact "Enlightenment" that Islam needs.