Recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa have produced an unprecedented opening for change that will not last. The international community has both the opportunity and the responsibility to facilitate transformation in the countries that seek democratization. This historic moment ”” the Arab Spring ”” is no time for inaction.
If history is any guide, the use of Islam in the political arena might not be a sign that countries such as Egypt or Tunisia are adopting more extremist agendas, but that their governments are incapable of fulfilling the promises they made to their people.
The Obama administration, the U.S. Congress, and indeed, the international community should remain focused on each country in transition, recalibrate old policies toward the region, and take concrete, meaningful actions to support democratization now.
I really hate the term “Islamists” or “Islamicists.” I find the term to be a patronizing attempt (albeit badly) to find a politically correct way to say something like “Extremist Muslims.” It is just not grammatically correct. No one refers to Fundamentalist Christians as “Christianityists” or “Christianists” or Orthodox Jews as “Judaismists.”
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that off chest…time to work on my Sunday sermon.
Islamism is a political ideology. As to the religious views of Islamists, they are apostates for violating the teachings of Islam. Islamism views the destruction of the West and Israel by any means necessary its primary political goal. They also incorrectly believe that this is a religious goal. Islam condemns the killing of women and children and believes that those who commit suicide for any reason will burn in Hell. So, if the Arab Spring is simply a change in political ideology, they should at least have voice, but their numbers are so small that it would not be particularly effective. It’s like here in the US, we give the White Supremacists a voice but almost no one chooses to go with what they say.