Should we worry?

Submitted by Michael (Sri Lanka), Sep 2, 2009 at 03:31

Islamic fundamentalists are scary people. Any state that is ruled by a religion, whether Islam or not, is going to be an unpleasant place for many of its citizens, women in Islamic fundamentalist states are, for instance, second class citizens who have few rights and may be denied education.

I'm not so sure that we can destroy Islamic fundamentalism through miltary means, though, or that we should even try. Movements that have elevated previously suppressed minorities such as blacks in America, women throughout the world, have all been indigenous. Islamic fundamentalist states will be subject to unrest and eventual overthrow from within, as Iran is now. In fact the ruling clerics in Iran are trying to foment unrest against outsiders, any outside interference in their internal affairs is bound to be counter-productive. The fundamentalists have only grown stronger in countries where there has been western intervention.

Also, Islam is a religion that does not promote economic development. In fact it promotes economic regression. So we have less to fear from fundamentalist Islamic states than from Islamic fundamentalists in more secular states. If we leave them alone they will self-destruct, just as communism did. The seeds of their destruction are carried within.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".