Posted by
Boris Tiraspolsky on Saturday, April 26, 2008 1:19:30 AM
"Muslims can modernize their religion, but that requires major changes: Out go waging jihad to impose Muslim rule, second-class citizenship for non-Muslims and death sentences for blasphemy or apostasy. In come individual freedoms, civil rights, political participation, popular sovereignty, equality before the law and representative elections."
Daniel Pipes.
Director of the Middle East Forum and the Taube/Diller
Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University
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Islam and democracy can coexistThere's an impression that Muslims suffer disproportionately from the rule of dictators, tyrants, unelected presidents, kings, emirs and various other strongmen - and it's accurate. A careful analysis by Frederic L. Pryor of Swarthmore College in the Middle East Quarterly (Are Muslim Countries Less Democratic?) concludes, "In all but the poorest countries, Islam is associated with fewer political rights."
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