Democracy May be Rejected by Religions, but Not by Believers

Reza Aslan *

The question of whether Islam is compatible with democracy is nonsensical at its core, first because it ignores basic empirical evidence (the five most populous Muslim countries in the world are all democracies) and second because it presumes that Islam is somehow different, unique or special -- that unlike every other religion in the history of the world, Islam alone is unaffected by history, culture or context.

Anyone who would answer “no, Islam is not compatible with democracy” does not even deserve a response; this is merely recycling the same old tired and disproven stereotypes about Islam that are frankly starting to get boring.

The truth is no religion either encourages or discourages democracy. Indeed, because religions are in their nature absolutist, all religions reject the principles of liberalism and popular sovereignty that are at the heart of the democratic ideal.

But so what? Religions do not exist outside of our interpretations of them. It is no coincidence that in the United States both slave owners and abolitionists not only used the same Bible to justify their arguments, but also used the exact same verses. The power and purpose of religion lies precisely in its malleability. The same gospels that compel a middle-class American Christian in the Midwest to “turn the other cheek” compel the pummeled and poverty-stricken Christian in the hills of San Salvador to “sell his cloak and buy a sword.” The same Torah that commands the elderly Jew in Palm Beach to love his neighbor as himself commands the zealot settler in Israel to violently cleanse the Holy Land of all Arabs. The same Quran that feeds the religious fascism of Iran’s supreme leader nourishes the young Iranian activist willing to risk his life for democracy.

Here is the simple, unavoidable truth: there is no such thing as Christianity, Judaism, Islam. There are only Christians, Jews, Muslims. Religion promotes neither love nor hate, neither war nor peace, neither democracy nor fascism. People do those things, and in religion they will find the justification for any and every answer to whatever question they ask.

So, the question is not whether Islam promotes democracy. The question should be: “Do Muslims promote democracy?” And the answer is some do and some don't, as is the case with followers of every religious tradition on earth.

* Reza Aslan, an associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, is the author of "No God but God" and "How to Win a Cosmic War."

Published on The New York Times, 04 October 2012, Thursday

Posted in: Democracy, Islam, New York Times, Reza Aslan