Doug posted this link from a news article:
Quote:"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
We all know these words. What I have found out by reading Karen Armstrong's "Islam" is that the beliefs of the Koran are essentially similar to our beliefs about human society. The Koran as revealed by Mohammed is based on an egalitarian system of rule. All people are equal. The difference from our own Declaration is that the Koran expression of equality is received from God, not man. The Koran expresses the thought that egalitararianism is God's law and that democracy, or agreement among the governed, is how a society ought to be ruled. Religious belief must never be forced on others in a diverse society; violence is forbidden by the Koran; women are equal to men in the society envisioned by the Koran.
The last chapters of her book deal with how Islam has changed and how it sees itself and is seen in the modern world, as it is threatened by modern secular society. She compares Muslim fundamentalism to the fundamentalism of other religions, Jewish and Christian. She describes and discusses all of the modern societies that are Islamic in part or in whole, and she talks at length about Iran. She addresses the Palestinian-Israel issue, too. The end part of the book deals with how an modern society can be Islamic in belief or in bent and yet be democratic and satisfy the seculars in that society.
There was an interesting bit toward the end about our scorn of the hijab and the cloaking of women in Islamic societies. There is an issue here of Western flaunting of body and buff that is inimical to the thoughtful mental and physical cloistering that is typical of Eastern societies. Why reveal all?, they seem to say, men or women, both of whom seem to dress in unrevealing shrouds, as if to show that their inner life means more than what they display.
Something to think about.
