Revolution In Egypt

Fareed Zakaria is a journalist and author with serious credentials on both foreign and domestic issues. He does incisive, in-depth analysis on many subjects that I greatly admire. A recent Time Magazine article he did about the revolution in Egypt was up to his usual high standards. However, one comment about "overreaction - common in Israel - that brands every move toward social conservatism as one toward jihad", brought me to a rare difference of opinion with him. He said, "asking women to wear veils is different from making men wear suicide belts". I think he is way off with that statement. To start with, at the very least, that's a very slippery slope. Let's be very generous and assume that at first they ask women to wear the veil. How long does anyone think it would take before that became a demand? Then why not order a complete head to toe covering to make them truly modest? With beatings and lashings and honor killings for those reluctant to live inside a cloth bag whenever venturing outside their house - only with a male relative, of course.

He also offers some troubling statistics while musing about whether Egypt will have a functioning democracy, theocracy, or whatever. He cites a 2010 Pew Research Center survey that asked questions about Egyptian attitudes. 84% support stoning as a punishment for adultery. 84% favor the death penalty for Muslims who leave the religion. How's that for enlightened views? In contrast, he cites a 2007 Pew survey that found 90% support freedom of religion, 88% an impartial judiciary, 80% free speech, and 75% are opposed to censorship. So what does it all mean? All too common cognitive dissonance often found in people. I will never forget quite a few years ago reading about a poll of Americans that found that a majority would repeal the Bill of Rights if it was put to a vote! I remember being appalled about that.

In spite of all that, I'm cautiously optimistic about events in Tunisia and Egypt. Often the dictatorial autocrats that rule in so many Muslim lands use tribalism, nationlism and religion to distract their supressed people from the dreariness of their lives. Stirring them up with claims about outsiders with evil intentions was a good strategy for keeping them from looking too hard at their own shortcomings. (Come to think of it... that's pretty much the right wing handbook in this country, isn't it?) Hopefully, a more open society will allow them to upgrade their attitudes to something more conducive to creating gainful employment and educational opportunities for their youthful populations instead of spewing slogans such as "Islam is the solution" or wanting to join the jihad in Afghanistan.