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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (216652)	2/6/2007 5:33:39 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

"That they exist in combination makes the obstacles almost insurmountable, IMO" Like you I see the primary obstacles as cultural. Unlike you I don't see them as a conflict with democracy. I am glad you see them as almost insurmountable, because almost is usually where hope resides. What I see leaking through as greater cultural obstacles are the fears and prejudices of the extremists on both sides of Middle Eastern vs Western; which are common fears from polar perspectives. Example: Middle Eastern: We fear they will force our daughters to drink, dance, gamble, have wild illicit sex etc. West: We fear they will deny our daughters the right to drink, dance, gamble, or have sex with a partner of their choosing. West: We fear they will impose archaic punishments on our daughters for conduct we view as culturally normal. Middle Eastern: We fear they will interfere with our parenting and guidance of our daughters to live according to our moral teachings. Reality: There are over ten million Muslims living in North America, a larger number living in Western Europe tending to multi-generational. How real are these fears? These people are not disconnected with their cultural roots and a lot is happening to influence their home lands in a positive and progressive way. You can find horrible acts committed in the name of Islam and there is definitely a problem with radical extremists with large followings and real threats of Global war. I see that as a distinctly separate problem, but one that could find its roots in a failed Iraq. Extremists like the SI Death Cult group exploit fear to promote anomolies of culture as a threat to Western Civilization IMO. They like to find some abused person immigrating from a village in Africa, who's converted to Christianity to exemplify the other Billions of Muslims.

To: carranza2 who wrote (216652)	2/6/2007 5:52:31 PM
From: Katelew	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

To your obstacles to democracy, I would offer two more. (and I'm really talking off the top of my head here) First, I view Islam, at least as it is practiced today, as very fatalistic. This can result in a kind of passivity and resignation in the populace. Second, generally speaking, women are not in much of a position to exert ameliorating effects on men, for ex. help their men avoid the blowback from excessive pride, or tame barbaric impulses such as drilling holes in a human head.