On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 14:09:33 +0700, Firouz Anaraki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Gilberto: > > Personally, I think that if you are in a > > country where the majority of the population are religious Muslims and > > they have a good democratic-type government which respects the will of > > the people and is accountable, then Islamic values and principles > > would naturally be incorporated into the structure of the government > > and the society. And there is more than one way which that can happen > > and there is more than one way that can look like. > Can you give an example of any Muslim country as you ideally define above > today? >
I don't think any country (Muslim or not) will be ideal. But that's what I would like to see other countries move towards. Secularization in Muslim countries seems to take place as the result of force and repression. So I'm wary if you are somehow holding it up as a model. The populations of many of these countries are religious Muslims and so if you "democratize" and had governments which were more inclusive and responsive to popular will, I suspect that in alot of places religious leaders might have more influence in government, not less. Turkey is as secular as it is because the military undemocratically represses the Islamic parties. http://www.religioscope.com/articles/2002/017_turkey_elect.htm A few years back Algeria was going to have elections where everyone knew that the Islamic party was going to win, until the military stepped in to stop the elections. Not that I'm an expert but it looks like a similar story can be told in Iraq. Sistani is a popular leader whose voice is listened to by many and its looking as if under democratic elections, and it seems like the religious parties are popular and will have a strong role in whatever government gets elected. Peace GIlberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
