Some good questions from my student Agatha Glowacki on To Make the Earth Whole. Her questions are bolded; my answers are italicized.
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Dear Prof. Gopin,
I am reading your newest book and am very energized by the insights and vision you offer. As I read, I have so many thoughts and have been jotting them down, and decided to email you to start a conversation.
Here are some of my thoughts:
1. You mention the possibility of hope resident in the idea of a global social contract based on democracy and freedom. What about those elements, especially the radical Muslim fringe but even the more mainstream Political Islamists, who don’t accept or want democracy or human rights because they see them as illegitimate products of the West?
Actually, I think this Western approach is overemphasized. Indicators are that support for non-democratic forms of political Islam, and especially violent expressions of Islam is waning considerably. In fact, my recent experience with Turkish developments, among others, is that it is precisely the Islamic parties that are pushing hardest for democratic reform, and the so-called moderates, allies of the U.S. often that are violating human rights and suppressing democracy. Now the standard concern was that Islamists were using democratic agitation as a way to gain power. That may be true, but the remarkable thing is that when people struggle for something democratically and nonviolently, for years, it changes them. Keep in mind, the Islamic revolution of Iran was a violent one, even though there were many promises made to democrats. Same with Russian Revolution. It is Gandhi’s old lesson, the way is not to peace, peace is the way. Democratic struggle creates democrats, and we should be making many alliances with Muslim democrats globally. There are more and more of them everywhere. This is also the best defense against those among them who are anti-democratic.
2. You mention the potential benefits from being a minority who is forced to adopt the human rights paradigms of ‘victimhood’ that subsequently integrates them into the more pluralist perspective, but what about the phenomenon of the Muslim minorities in Europe to whom this isn’t happening? Where instead, some are becoming more radical, more exclusivist?
My argument is that minorities who have suffered discrimination, when given the chance to make coalitions with others, tend to become the best proponents of democracy. As far as Europe, where Muslims are given the chance to engage and make coalitions those coalitions are being made. Unfortunately there are millions of poor and disenfranchised youth who are subject to consistent discrimination in the workplace. Europe needs far more extensive anti-discrimination laws so that a Muslim middle class will flourish. Many former jihadis from Europe have already seen that as bad as European racism was, the false promises of Jihadism turned out to be worse. Europe needs to work much harder on equal opportunity, and then the ideological problems will disappear on their own. Jihadism has already lost its sheen.
3. You mention the potential benefit of government support in amplifying and advertising the work of peacemakers. But in terms of the Muslim world, doesn’t anything connected to the US automatically get tainted? So how can the US government help? What role should it take? You mention the need for funding, is this a possible venue? The only venue? And then would the funding have to be kept hidden to preserve the credibility of those it supports?
The best thing that United States can do is demonstrate a new relationship with the people of Muslim and Arab lands, and stand up a bit to the governments. I am not saying they should do this in an insulting or disparaging way. The United States and the West have a tendency to be condescending. But I am saying that their funding and aid to foreign countries should be revolutionized to focus on local human needs, local empowerment, local human talents and local wisdom. This will send a message loud and clear to both regimes and people about American priorities. It goes without saying that greater respect for religious Muslim customs and traditions would be helpful as well.
4. I found your section on the power of the emotional will to reach out to an alienated other to be fascinating. You mentioned the myth that conflicts of ideology are impossible to resolve and this can be applied to assumptions in mainstream thinking today about the impossibility of deradicalization, ie. changing the minds of hard-line believers in a radical Islamic ideology. But I wonder what the effects of the loving approach you mention would have on deradicalization? In other words, would deradicalization become possible if we went beyond ideology and moved towards emotional, relational bonds? That is an intriguing area to consider, though as you mention it would have to be done via peacemakers and NOT the government.
Actually there are some very interesting programs and talented individuals who are engaging Taliban and former Taliban on a human level. Interestingly in Saudi Arabia there have been reports of extensive prison-based engagement with jihadis that should be studied. Saudi Arabia is a place of many contradictions, and just because there are many human rights violations does not mean that one can find no creative engagement in conflict resolution and religious evolution. Also, my recent posts have indicated that there are former jihadis who are now preaching nonviolence in London, for example, and it would be helpful to learn from them, and engage them. There are many examples of engagement in and between Muslims that is fostering some vibrant moves toward nonviolence.
Agatha, why are all your questions about Muslims? What about Christian and Jewish extremists who have brought us wars in the Middle East leaving so many people dead or exiled? My book is about the power of religion to be destructive or creative, and also the critical importance of working hard at democracy and the social contract. This is vital for the future of such democracies as the United States and Israel that stand in danger of losing their democratic principles due to the rise of religious extremists and the relative docility of local populations to build and strengthen a broad-based social contract. The earth stands just as much chance of suffering from a retreat from democracy in the United States as it does from a lack of democracies in the Arab world.
5. You mention the conclusion of Enlightenment philosophers that religion is at its worst when it has absolute power. What about those in Islamic circles that argue directly against this, referring to the romantic notion of the Islamic Caliphate and urge a re-creation of this form of religious government? How does the notion of a Caliphate that is both historic and religious mesh with this understanding of the ultimate corrupting influence of power over religion? (I am reminded of a fascinating lecture by Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im who argues for the need in Islam to embrace democracy though this is still deemed heretical by mainstream Muslims).
Caliphates are not indigenous to Muslim belief. It is true that the idea of government is more comfortable and there is not a history of an Enlightenment brake with religious government. On the other hand, pious Muslims have always seen their rulers as being somewhat less an expression of their Islamic ideals. I think that the Caliphate fantasies are of a very small fringe, and that most feel that it is always a struggle to move political rulers in the direction of the good. This is part of the struggle. On the contrary, the more that democratic governments from the United States to India set up a society in which Islam and Muslims are safe and respected, the more odd will the notion of Caliphate become.
6. You mention the paucity of women studying the subjects of war/peace/religion and in the practice of peacemaking. While I agree with this, a fascinating area to study, though, is how women are becoming powerfully active in exactly these ways through the platform of yoga! There are more and more social outreach and peacebuilding initiatives led by women yogis that are just amazing.
Any avenue that women can find to be empowered, especially inside spiritual traditions, should be pursued. The more experimentation the better, and it will have and is having a spill over effect in even the most conservative arenas.
7. You mention the cognitive framework of media that is focused on violence and human degradation, but I find fascinating the new emerging alternative media source like Ode Magazine and Good Magazine who are trying to shift that paradigm to focus more on ‘good news.’ What can/should be done to support this trend?
I am a big believer in good news journalism. The challenge is to make it appealing, really appealing. Much more work needs to be done in this direction.
That’s it for now!! I look forward to starting a dialogue!
Warm regards,
Agatha
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