tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801020625658998297.post2229610108052738946..comments2023-10-22T10:51:45.374-05:00Comments on America: Is there one Islam?Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801020625658998297.post-13227993657412226472007-05-04T16:17:00.000-05:002007-05-04T16:17:00.000-05:00Mike,While I won't contend with your depiction of ...Mike,<BR/><BR/>While I won't contend with your depiction of the discussion over at Suicide of the West, I must object to your characterization of the site itself as "neo-con." In fact, I am adamantly opposed to the neoconservatives and their project of projecting democracy throughout the world by means of American power. I consider it foolishness to believe that Arab Muslim culture can ever be compatible with democratic institutions because such institutions are the concrete expressions of certain values which themselves derive from the cultures that nurture them. And at at the heart of any culture is the "cult," those specific assumptions about the nature of Man and his relationship to God that derive from a civilization's foundational faith. And since I consider that the Muslim conception of Man and his relationship to God is flawed, I find it inconveivable that a culture based on such faulty premises could ever yield the values necessary to sustain democratic institutions. <BR/><BR/>So, you see, there is a fundamental disagreement between me and the neocons. While we agree that all persons possess an equal dignity and have a right to be free, we disagree about whether it is at all possible to translate that right into reality.Mark Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03370958932767047313noreply@blogger.com