I am a spiritual agnostic, not an atheist, but Im sure the Arab world needs a lot more atheism. Like many others, I have been guilty in the past of talking far too much about Islam and its tediously glorious past - I love Shakespeare too, but we dont feel the need to bring King Lear into contemporary political discussions. Islamic states have always been tyrannies. Our Islamic glories (which were cultural, not political) lie centuries in the past, and are irretrievable. Even in the great classical period, dissenting and non-conformist voices were usually silenced. Neither medieval religion nor shallow identity politics can provide any practical solutions to our enormous problems today. Islam is an enormous distraction, and we should say so openly and repeatedly. Worse than that, its first function in the world - like any organised religion - is to serve power, to divide so power can continue to rule. (this doesnt mean I like the state-allied muslim secularists. they have helped create the islamist delusion by their arrogance, class prejudice and authoritarianism).
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 08:05:30 +0000