I guess that something like social democracy could, in theory, emerge from an Islamic milieu, whether Sunni or Shi'a. My little reading of Turkish politics suggests that one of the non-secular political parties there pushes politics that are a bit like an Islamic version of Christian democracy. Left-wing Christian democracy can be okay.
The problem with this is that the ideology isn't enough, just as progressive Christianity isn't enough. Liberation theologists with no contact, no direct attachment, with an active popular movement end up like a lot of progressive or even Marxist types without such involvement. It ends up being entirely academic (perhaps even without being in academia).
Social democracy (like Marxist-Leninist groups) unfortunately often shares some characteristics of fascism, such as top-down organization and nationalism. Of course, social democracy (like M-Lism) is NOT fascism. That's partly because social democracy (when it's at its high point) are linked to independent labor unions and similar organizations (independent women's groups, etc.) rather than dealing with organizations that are mere conveyor belts for the party line (the careers of the parliamentary politicians, etc.) SD parties also typically don't have to deal with the kinds of social disintegration that spawn fascism.
What this suggests to me is that even the most progressive-sounding Islamic political organization could, like the most progressive-sounding Christian or secular political organization, end up being very top-down and nationalist, leaning heavily in the fascist direction, if the grass roots (the rank and file) do not have the autonomy to keep the party organization honest.
On 8/19/06, Yoshie Furuhashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 8/19/06, Michael Perelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I appreciate what you are trying to do. I think about how people like
> the Berrigans used Catholocism to do wonderful progressive work, but I
> can't imagine expecting to make that religion into a progressive
> organization.
One never knows what comes out of what. Who would have thought early
in the 20th century that the Presbyterian Church USA would become the
first major institution to take on apartheid in Israel/Palestine, the
Episcopalian Church would risk a schism in order to push for
ordination of gay men and lesbians, and so on? If Protestants can
change, so can Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Wiccans, whatever.
Sometime in the future, I hope that peoples of the world will take a
typically Japanese attitude toward all religions: enjoy diverse
rituals of many religions as ornaments of life without taking them on
as a matter of personal faith. But the world is not there yet.
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/ >
--
Jim Devine / "While the miser is merely a capitalist gone mad, the capitalist is a rational miser" -- Karl Marx
