Fascism, Communism and Militant Islam
Reader comment on item: Iran in Crisis

Submitted by Gabriel Grosso (Italy), Jan 3, 2003 at 09:03

After the collapse of communism in 1989, Francis Fucuyama argued that that was the 'end of ideology'. Fascism and communism dominated most of the twentieth century. Fascism was defeated in 1945 and communism collapsed in 1989. After the collapse of communism, it was tempting to assume- as Fucuyama did- that ideologies were no longer relevant to contemporary concernes.

Unfortunately, that is not accurate. In fact, Militant Islam has now replaced communism as the only coherent ideology. Indeed, Militant Islam is a totalitarian ideology. It is totalitarian because it takes all aspects of a person's life. Militant Islam glorifies war and violence. Like Marxism-Leninism, Militant Islam has a political vanguard. Militant Islam is militaristic and that can be clearly seen in countries like Iran and Sudan. Mass-murder is another characteristic of totalitarian ideologies. In Sudan, 1 million Christians have been murdered by fanatics. In Algeria, 200.000 people (mainly traditional Muslims) have been slaughtered by fanatics. As Hanna Arendt explained, anti-Semitism is a chief characteristic of all totalitarian ideologies. Muslim Extremists hate Jews, Christians and homosexuals. Groups like Islamic Jihad kill Jewish people. Bin Laden has declared a war against Jews and Christians whom he is happy to kill. Homosexuals are another target of Muslim Extremists. Militant Islam provides an ideology complete of an economic theory. Ordinary Muslims are innocent and deserve respect. The extremists must be stopped.

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