Is it democracy they want, or Islam?

(Note, Jan. 30: A commenter says that the demonstrations in Egypt contain pro-Christian messages.)

James N. writes:

A poster at Free Republic posed the question which burns in the hearts of Bushies and neocons everywhere:

“I keep hearing conflicting reports. Fox radio says its pro democracy riots. Others reporting Islamic hardliners. Which is it?”

The answer, of course, is “both.” The Egyptian protesters want “democracy” (meaning, “choose the government by voting”) IN ORDER THAT that same government can satisfy their desire for sharia at home and war abroad.

Another FR poster resurrected the tired cliché “I just believe people everywhere want freedom.”

Of course they do. The Egyptian people want the freedom they are presently denied to murder Copts, impose the veil and the burka, and to war on Israel.

Just to show I don’t believe ideological blindness is confined to Bushies, I remember Golda Meir’s quote, “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” Poor Golda! She didn’t realize that Arab mothers ALREADY love their children so much that they are overjoyed when they blow themselves up and go straight to paradise.

- end of initial entry -

Paul K. writes:

James N. writes: “The Egyptian people want the freedom they are presently denied to murder Copts, impose the veil and the burka, and to war on Israel.”

This obvious truth is unfathomable to liberals and neocons alike because it contradicts their fundamental assumptions. After many Pakistanis applauded the assassination of Salman Taseer a few weeks ago, Vice-President Biden attempted to shame them by saying, “The governor was killed simply because he was a voice of tolerance and understanding.”

He may think so, but can’t he face the fact that the opinion of an infidel like himself means nothing to a devout Muslim? In a Muslim country, being “a voice of tolerance and understanding” by Western standards makes you a heretic, not a hero.

January 30

Ken Hechtman writes:

Paul K. wrote:

He may think so, but can’t he face the fact that the opinion of an infidel like himself means nothing to a devout Muslim? In a Muslim country, being “a voice of tolerance and understanding” by Western standards makes you a heretic, not a hero.

I don’t buy this. Egypt isn’t Pakistan. There’s a strong pro-Christian tone in the street protests that you’d never hear in Pakistan, chants like “Long live the crescent together with the cross” and “Hey Muhammed (common Muslim name) say to Bulis (common Christian name), Tomorrow Egypt will be like Tunis.”

Here’s what I think your readers are missing about Egypt. They’re missing the extent to which the New Year’s church bombing was a “That Ain’t Who We Are” moment among Egyptian Muslims. The next week, on Orthodox Christmas, there were Muslims going into Coptic churches to act as human shields against another bombing.

(I have to link to the Google cache for this story because all Egyptian-based websites are blocked this week.)

Even the Muslim Brotherhood mentioned the initiative on its website. It’s not a direct call-out as such but they’re clearly not against the idea either and they did cover it before the fact:

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 29, 2011 11:09 AM | Send