Monk

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David Warren sounds another sour note on the prospect of a harmonic convergence occurring between the West and the Muslim Middle East in our lifetime, looking at the election in Turkey of an Islamist party, and seeing how Turkey was perhaps our most secular and liberal Muslim nation in the region, capped off by this conclusion:

As I've written several times before (most recently June 20th), there is every demographic and political indication that Turkey's "secular" experiment is ending. It went sufficiently against the grain of an Islamic society to begin with. Over time, the prestige of Islam revived, and by presenting themselves as only moderate Islamists, whose main intention is to clean up corruption, and deliver welfare services more efficiently to the country's poor, the A.K.P. has cleverly insinuated itself into the hearts and minds of the people who still have most of the children.

Let that be a lesson to us. The Islamic world is not going to become more Western and "modern" over time. For Turkey was the farthest "West" any Islamic society could be taken, and then only by force. We must confront that reality plainly, and stop dreaming that "democracy" will make the Muslims just like us.

Some may say that it is good that they are not to become Western clones. However, what we are really talking about, I think, are governments and nations that we can deal with.

I imagine one of the main reasons why this conflict has come to a head is the ramped up globalization of recent decades, as the world seems to have become too small for both the Western and the Islamist visions. We can deal with the likes of a China, because although they are not democratic, they are into the market economy and they don't seem particularly interested in making everyone communist or Chinese for that matter. The Islamists on the other hand seem to regard the market as corrupting and they think everyone should be Islamist.

( David Warren )

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ISTANBUL, April 24 — Turkey’s ruling party on Tuesday chose a presidential candidate with an Islamic background, a move that will extend the reach of the party — and the emerging class of devout Muslims it represents — into the heart of Turkey’s secular establishment for the first time.

The selection has focused the worries of secular Turks who fear that sexual equality, as well as drinking alcohol and wearing miniskirts, could eventually be in danger.

-- Sabrina Tavernise for The New York Times

Turkey has been one of the brighter lights in the Muslim world, being able to maintain secular governance over its own theocratic impulses. So, this could be a worrisome trend. I am especially concerned about Mustafa Karaduman:

Mustafa Karaduman, a textile designer and fashion house owner, is among the new entrepreneurs. He is from Anatolia, a capital of middle-class production, and the homeland of Mr. Gul. His fashion house has turned into an empire, supplying Islamic clothing for women in Europe and the Middle East. He is 50, has seven children, and is an outspoken opponent of the miniskirt.

“My mission,” he says, “is to cover all women around the world.”

He must be stopped! The miniskirt is what makes freedom so sweet.

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