Democracy nonsense

Rod Dreher, in The DallasMorningViews blog, says he doesn't believe Islam is "reconcilable with liberal democracy (by which I mean not only free and fair elections, but religious freedom, equality before the law, a free press, and separation of church and state)." To believe this, he must be turning a blind eye to the millions of Muslims who live in the United States, freely practicing their religion and simultaneously believing in liberal democracy, without contradiction.

Mr Dreher asks someone to show him a form of Islam that makes sharia optional? Again, how about the Islam practiced by millions of Americans, which makes no attempt at all to force sharia on non-believers? The same holds true in Australia, where recently Peter Costello, the second highest-ranking government official, invited Australian Muslims to leave the country, saying "If you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you." A Muslim reference group, appointed by the Prime Minister himself because of their leadership in the Australian Muslim community, prepared a response saying, "Nobody has suggested that we implement Sharia law."

Not only is Islam reconcilable with liberal democracy, so is Christianity, despite centuries of history that might imply otherwise. The Spanish conquest of America, the enslavement of Africans in North America for two centuries, and the Holocaust in Europe, all were committed by supposedly Christian powers, often using Christianity as pretext. Islamic history has its stains as well, including events happening today. But there's no reason to believe that a century hence, two centuries hence, the situation could change, much as it did for most of Christianity, at least most of the time.