How Egyptians might vote for a Sharia state out of concern for their immediate needs. “Is an Egyptian ‘Democracy’ a Good Thing?,” by a great friend of Jihad Watch, Raymond Ibrahim, in Hudson New York (via RaymondIbrahim.com), February 17:
[…] That said, the Muslim Brotherhood does pose a very real threat; moreover, it does want strict sharia implemented. If the people help see it to power, Egypt will become considerably more fascistic. Yet this does not mean that most Egyptians are Islamists. While some are, others go along with the Brotherhood for the ostensible benefits, while being indifferent to the group’s ideological agenda. After all, Hamas’ famous strategy of endearing the Palestinians to it by providing for their needs was learned directly from its parent organization: Egypt’s Brotherhood.
In a way, this is not unlike Western democracies: people can vote based on their immediate needs, emotions, misinformation, or even sheer propaganda””and get more than they bargained for. Yet Western democracies have built-in safeguards, for example, a constitution, rule of law, and a separate judiciary. But what if all of these are built on Islamist principles, agreed to by the majority? The constitution, law, and judiciary of a government can all be built atop sharia (the word sharia simply means “the way” of Muslim society). After all, part of the Brotherhood’s by now infamous slogan is that “the Koran is our Constitution”; likewise, Iran has a “constitutional government–”based on sharia jurisprudence.
In short, America needs to stop praising democracy””a means””and start supporting freedom and universal rights””the desired end. If that end can best be achieved by, say, a “philosopher-king,” as opposed to popular support, so be it; if that end can be achieved by supporting secularists while “undemocratically” suppressing Islamists, so be it. Rather than offer lip service to any specific mode of governance, the U.S. should support whoever and whatever form of government is best positioned to provide the boons regularly conflated with democracy….