Comments on: UPDATE: Turkish crisis puts “post-Islamist” reform on hold http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/05/26/update-turkish-crisis-puts-%e2%80%9cpost-islamist%e2%80%9d-reform-on-hold/ Religion, faith and ethics Tue, 21 May 2013 21:44:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: middleXeast http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/05/26/update-turkish-crisis-puts-%e2%80%9cpost-islamist%e2%80%9d-reform-on-hold/comment-page-1/#comment-3787 middleXeast Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:23:35 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/05/26/update-turkish-crisis-puts-%e2%80%9cpost-islamist%e2%80%9d-reform-on-hold/#comment-3787 It is tempting to suggest that in a culture in which political violence has publicly triumphed over political compromise, a culture in which recognition of force rather than of persuasion is the accepted definition of consensus, liberalism would fall flat. However, the good news is that liberal Islam is on the rise, representing the overwhelming majority within the Muslim world today. The bad news is that it is a silent majority, or more accurately, a silenced one. Despite the fact that in the Muslim world people are systematically silenced by their authoritarian regimes, Muslim communities have responded positively both to democracy and to most aspects of liberalism. This is clearly shown by the World Values Survey, pooled sample 1995-2001. For a summary of this sample go here: http://themiddleeastinterest.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/liberal-muslims/ It is tempting to suggest that in a culture in which political violence has publicly triumphed over political compromise, a culture in which recognition of force rather than of persuasion is the accepted definition of consensus, liberalism would fall flat.

However, the good news is that liberal Islam is on the rise, representing the overwhelming majority within the Muslim world today. The bad news is that it is a silent majority, or more accurately, a silenced one.

Despite the fact that in the Muslim world people are systematically silenced by their authoritarian regimes, Muslim communities have responded positively both to democracy and to most aspects of liberalism. This is clearly shown by the World Values Survey, pooled sample 1995-2001. For a summary of this sample go here: http://themiddleeastinterest.wordpress.c om/2008/02/08/liberal-muslims/

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