Sharansky's Book

I just finished reading Natan Sharansky's new book, the Case for Democracy. This is the book that President Bush said outlines his global philosophy. Sharansky's book is a great read, filled with stories from his days fighting the U.S.S.R. Also, between the lines it is very easy to see that Sharansky is a great man, a person who bends over backwards to give others the benefit of the doubt, and a person who sincerely cares and feels the pain of people who are suffering.

In terms of Sharanksy's theory (and this is ultimately the reason he wrote this book), I think he is almost correct and his ideas could probably be applied in most areas of the world. The one exception, and this is where I take issue with his thesis, is in the world of Islam.

Sharansky's idea is that if the world were free - that dictators and other authoritarian scum were driven from power - then the world would be at peace and most conflict would disappear. What he fails to acknowledge is the power of Islam as a religious system. The reality is that religious Muslims really believe what the Koran says. Some are even willing to die and to kill for it.

But I think the main reason Sharansky's ideas simply won't work (at least in the Muslim world) is because Islam has never undergone a reformation similar to what Christianity underwent. Humanitarian and open societies are able to exist in the West because the ultimate authority of the church was successfully challenged. The result of the reformation led to a weakening of the Church and the rise of competing views of religion and ulimately the rise of secular humanism. Until Islam is similarly challenged, it's fundamentalist rigidity will stand supreme and thus an openness to negotiate and accept other viewpoints will remain impossible.

I should add, that as I was thinking about this, I saw this article where Salman Rushdie calls for an Islamic reformation. Maybe I am a psychic?

To be fair, I think Rushdie's ideas (at least as they are presented here) come from a complete lack of respect or understanding of what Islam as a religious system is or means (not that you can blame him - he has been in hiding for 20 years).

These are my two cents on Sharansky's book. All in all, it was a great read and I recommend it to everyone. My next book is the Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.