There needs to be a greater understanding of the role that religion plays in different societies and countries, and specifically how this shapes the politics of these countries. Unless the different theories of international relations can accommodate religion in their frameworks, we will be unable to fully comprehend important geopolitical events.
The most important aspect of Turkey’s potential to become a model for the rest of the region is her ability to uphold secularism while trying to become more democratic despite the fact that there is currently a conservative government ruling Turkey with its origins in Turkey’s Islamist tradition.
Hatred is a current ‘cool’ fad, but a terribly dangerous one. As with Holocaust deniers, evidence does not deter those Islamophobes who smear all Muslims. Since Muslims are roughly 1/5 of the world’s population, they would be wrecking massive worldwide havoc if their nefarious goal was domination and destruction of all non-Muslims. It clearly isn’t.
In the age of intensified globalization and migration, societies are increasingly confronted with problems of integration and peaceful coexistence of religiously or otherwise ethnically different groups, particularly of groups identifying themselves with Western traditions on the one hand and the world of Islam on the other. Tolerance is an important element to meet these requirements.
Since 9/11, the anti-Muslim drumbeat has impacted vast numbers of innocent Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Arabs, South Asians and others. We, who despair when our children are teased and bullied, are accepting and repeating despicable slurs about others, ricocheting through our culture. I felt compelled to stand up against people being attacked, even murdered on the basis of snap judgments
There is no single normative Islam, Christianity, or Judaism. All world religions encompass diverse components and we might as well come to grips with the internal diversity of religions. After generations of theological harmonization, we recognize the obvious and admit that there is no single Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, but only Judaisms, Christianities, Islams.
The unspeakable tragedy in Norway is a wakeup call about the dangers of right wing political and religious extremism and Islamophobia which threaten the democratic fabric of American and European societies. They create a social cancer whose metastasis impacts not only the safety and security of Muslims but also, as the attacks in Norway demonstrate, all citizens.
The self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi instilled enough courage in the Arab people to demand the democratic and human rights that they deserve. If the present protests on the Arab streets are sending tremors across the world, then in the near future, an unexpected political event in the region will be potent enough to hit globally with the force of a tsunami.
The need to resort to strategic symbols like Mahdi is to some degree the result of the Persian cultural trait of ta’arof which discourages direct confrontation and criticism. Westerners, bewildered by such peculiarities, often fall back on what they know best, Iran’s foreign affairs, while overlooking the domestic aspects that fuel Iranian behavior.
History has placed two peoples, both with legitimate claims, in competition for the same land. The brutality of the Murders at Itamar is a reminder that the conflict on the West Bank, indeed the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians in all of its aspects, should be understood as a secular, rather than a religious, event.
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