Submitted by the criterion(United States), Apr 12, 2004 at 19:07
you mention turkey as a muslim success story? how is that? turkey has been trying to gain respect and recognition from the EU for years now and what have they got? rejection every time. the point is that turkey has not achieved anything. true they are westernized and modern, but compared to europe they are still backward as heck and much poorer on a per capita basis.
there is an interesting thing to note however. when the turks truly practiced the tenets of islam they were a powerful force to reckon with. they gained respect as the islamic ottoman empire, not the secular ottoman empire. christian europe was no match for the ottomans. a few centuries later, after the renaissance, europe became secular and this is when they gained global dominance. the west had to get rid of christianity to advance, whereas the islamic world lost dominance as they became lax in their faith. muslim states must revert back to their relgious creed in order to get out of the rut in which they currently wallow. westernization is not a necessary prerequisite to modernity or advancement. it may work for the western christians and jews, but there is no evidence that it will work for others. whatever floats your boat. secularism is good for the west only and it is sought after in the east only to make the east dependent on the pimp-like west.
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