There’s a shortish article over at DW (h/t ROP) about major societal changes that are occurring in Middle East Muslim majority nations. According to the article based on various societal studies in the region, people are turning away from Islam. Some are doing this openly when it is safe to do so but others are doing it quietly.
Although I believe that there should be freedom of religion I also believe that it is right that those who choose no religion should also be free to do so. In both Lebanon and Iran there is a rise in those questioning religious norms and in places like Tunisia there is a rise in what are called the ‘nones’ who do not identify with any particular faith.
I believe that this is good news for the citizens of these countries, especially those countries where Islam is not just a personal faith but part of the governing system. This is because unlike in the UK where we have an Established Church that more or less only really comes out when there are national celebrations or at times of national distress and whose adherents strive to do good in their communties, in Islamic countries the distinction between civil and religious law is not great. Religious law is often the civil law as well. Religious law governs things like women’s rights, gay rights and even what a person can eat drink or say. It is all encompassing.
The rejection of Islam by the citizens of Middle Eastern countries could be a very good thing for these nations and those who live within them. This is because, in my view, Islam has been a social and cultural retardant where it dominates and has prevented Islam dominated nations from developing.
I’d strongly advise reading the short DW article as it may shed some light on what is going on in the Middle East at the moment and what changes may occur in the future. There’s a long way to go before Islam morphs into the equivalent of the Anglicans but it seems that at least in some countries, the people, if not the governments are on the first steps of this path.
I will not even begin to believe that such secularisation is meaningful while governments of islamic countries in the Middle East (and elsewhere) are still signed up to the Cairo Declaration (of human rights in islam).
Sometimes what the people do, by rejecting Islam, can have an influence over governments.
Before Islam existed the Middle East was thebcockpit of human development. If Europe submitted to Islam 1000 years ago I don’t think the Industrial Revolution and all subsequent advances in science and technology would have happened. Islam is a malevolent cancer which needs to be cut out from human society.
@FH
With Biden ignoring Israel and almost pretending it doesn’t exist, I see the process reversing. His siding with Iran and their Yemen terrorists doesn’t bode wwell. Norr does his instant deployment of troops into Syria
@Michael
Agree. I think hatred of West is based on envy
You are correct there. Although the societal changes may succeed in the long run, they, along with the peace process bill be hampered by the actions of Bejing Biden.
Edited to add: I used to be an avid reader of Britain’s Jewish newspaper of record, the Jewish Chronicle. However in recent years it has shifted more and more to the Left and has become infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome and no longer represents my view or the view of other Jews of the political Right. Recently they were celebrating the Biden ‘win’ but I wonder how long it will be before the JC writers start to regret that position as it is likely that Biden will undo a lot of the good work towards a lasting Middle East peace that Mr Trump did a large amount to create.