http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/...-islamists Wrote:Tunisia just held a parliamentary election and Ennahda, the sort-of-moderate-but-not-really Islamist party lost to the ardently secular Nidaa Tounes, which translates into Call of Tunisia.
Ennahda is the Tunisian Branch of the Muslim Brotherhood under another name, and it wears a more moderate face than the Egyptian branch. Tunisia is a genuinely moderate country and Ennahda’s leaders have no choice but to tone down their rhetoric and their platform if they want to seriously compete in elections.
I have seen the idea advanced that French Secularism along with the repression of Ben Ali created the conditions for which Ennahda was able to advance as an Islamist movement that was much more moderate (by necessity) than most other Muslim countries that found themselves with a free election (and would then inevitably vote in Islamists).
The best way I've ever thought of it is that Muslims in Tunisia are fairly conservative but they see Islam having a place in Tunisian politics much like the way Republicans here see Christianity as having an important role. It's quite similar.
(10-28-2014 09:02 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: The best way I've ever thought of it is that Muslims in Tunisia are fairly conservative but they see Islam having a place in Tunisian politics much like the way Republicans here see Christianity as having an important role. It's quite similar.
Ok. There are similarities, but they are also fundamentally different, especially in degree. I would consider Muslims here in the US prior to 2000 as part of the religious right, though.
(10-28-2014 09:02 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: The best way I've ever thought of it is that Muslims in Tunisia are fairly conservative but they see Islam having a place in Tunisian politics much like the way Republicans here see Christianity as having an important role. It's quite similar.
Ok. There are similarities, but they are also fundamentally different, especially in degree. I would consider Muslims here in the US prior to 2000 as part of the religious right, though.
I think the degree of difference most people perceive is thanks to the general difference in culture.
Abortion and gay marriage are our issues while there's are the hijab in public and rape laws.
(10-28-2014 09:02 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: The best way I've ever thought of it is that Muslims in Tunisia are fairly conservative but they see Islam having a place in Tunisian politics much like the way Republicans here see Christianity as having an important role. It's quite similar.
Ok. There are similarities, but they are also fundamentally different, especially in degree. I would consider Muslims here in the US prior to 2000 as part of the religious right, though.
I think the degree of difference most people perceive is thanks to the general difference in culture.
Abortion and gay marriage are our issues while there's are the hijab in public and rape laws.
There is also a difference in the nature of the religions and the degree of tolerance to non-adherents, particularly those of non-Abrahamic religions or atheists. Islam has the cult-like aspect of insisting that apostates (those who are "no longer" Muslim) be killed, even though the more beneficent may choose to ignore what their dogma tells them in such cases.
(10-28-2014 09:02 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: The best way I've ever thought of it is that Muslims in Tunisia are fairly conservative but they see Islam having a place in Tunisian politics much like the way Republicans here see Christianity as having an important role. It's quite similar.
Ok. There are similarities, but they are also fundamentally different, especially in degree. I would consider Muslims here in the US prior to 2000 as part of the religious right, though.
I think the degree of difference most people perceive is thanks to the general difference in culture.
Abortion and gay marriage are our issues while there's are the hijab in public and rape laws.
There is also a difference in the nature of the religions and the degree of tolerance to non-adherents, particularly those of non-Abrahamic religions or atheists. Islam has the cult-like aspect of insisting that apostates (those who are "no longer" Muslim) be killed, even though the more beneficent may choose to ignore what their dogma tells them in such cases.