Is Islam compatible with secularism? Do Muslims even understand the concept of separation of church and state?
Gandalf has for a long time promoted himself as a strong secularist, and tried to paint Islam and Muslims as compatible with secularism. At the same time, he has given examples of Muslims rejecting and winding back secularism. Lately, he has let the facade down even further and offered us a glimpse of what he means by secularism. One of his recent posts:
polite_gandalf wrote on Oct 5
th, 2014 at 5:45pm:
freediver wrote on Oct 5
th, 2014 at 4:56pm:
I cannot understand your description of Muhammed as a secular ruler. I asked you to back this claim up last post.
Now now FD, don't be telling fibs.That was the first time I used the term, and you asked no such thing.
Anyway... Muhammad was a secular ruler, thats a simple statement of fact. He ruled over a multi-faith city state, and clearly made worldly rulings and political decisions that really had nothing to do with what we now term islamic doctrine. Thats the context in which I see the sentence carried out on the Banu Qurayza. A regular secular ruler, ruling purely in the interests of his worldly secular state.
How he spun it earlier:
polite_gandalf wrote on Aug 17
th, 2013 at 8:44pm:
Sorry, I must be still missing it. I'll just clarify my position (again), and hopefully it will answer whatever you want answered:
- I support secularism
- I support democracy
- I oppose dictatorships
Opposing dictatorships means all dictatorships - whether they be secular or religious. Saying I support secularism doesn't mean I support secular dictators - Clear?
polite_gandalf wrote on May 9
th, 2013 at 11:01pm:
And yet they choose a secular democracy, in which sharia law is largely rejected.
polite_gandalf wrote on Apr 19
th, 2013 at 3:34pm:
Lebanese criminals, like all criminals in Australia are secular
polite_gandalf wrote on Oct 17
th, 2013 at 6:48am:
Muslims are to blame for this mess - namely the foreigners that the fake Saudi and Qatari regimes are pumping in with the specific aim of destabilizing the once stable secular nation.
polite_gandalf wrote on Nov 29
th, 2013 at 9:03am:
you seem to have a particular beef with the muslim brotherhood Herb. What is the basis of this? They were actually rather moderate during their brief rule in Egypt - desperately pandering to both the US and Israel, and not doing much at all to dismantle the secular Egypt society.
polite_gandalf wrote on Dec 22
nd, 2013 at 1:23pm:
over 60% of muslims live not in the middle east, but in south and south-east asia, and these populations overwhelmingly have secular/democratic attitudes.
polite_gandalf wrote on Dec 22
nd, 2013 at 3:38pm:
80% of muslims now live outside the arab middle east, and 60% of them live in south and south-east asia - from Turkey to Indonesia. The vast majority of these countries are secular and democratic.
polite_gandalf wrote on Dec 22
nd, 2013 at 5:48pm:
Of course there are "very clear reasons" why Turkey has rejected fundamentalism, but not one of them change the fact that muslims demonstrably can and have become secular and progressive.
polite_gandalf wrote on Feb 12
th, 2014 at 6:35am:
These 'secular' motives are far worse IMO, and your little crusader meme is just a stupid red herring that distracts from the real crimes committed by the west
polite_gandalf wrote on Mar 1
st, 2014 at 6:37pm:
Of course muslim opinions supporting liberal/secular things will be discarded, and we will be promptly told to defer back to Abu and Falah.
polite_gandalf wrote on Mar 5
th, 2014 at 6:52am:
And yes, the 19th century zionist movement was a secular/non-religious movement. Just basic facts of history guys.
polite_gandalf wrote on Mar 31
st, 2014 at 11:22am:
freediver wrote on Mar 30
th, 2014 at 8:03pm:
A secular justification - what does that mean?
secular - as in non-religious justifications
polite_gandalf wrote on Jun 7
th, 2014 at 5:29pm:
Islam today is dominated by people who are in a post-colonial, anti-west state of mind. Theology and geopolitics are more intertwined than they have ever been. There is a perceived victimhood amongst muslims, especially in former colonies (which is most of the muslim world today), which gives rise to violence and irrational behaviour that is, at its core, entirely secular in nature, but have been infused with islamic ideology.
polite_gandalf wrote on Jul 8
th, 2014 at 8:45am:
The biggest threat to democracy in Islam's traditional heartland is a combination of secular dictators, and US intervention.
polite_gandalf wrote on Jul 23
rd, 2014 at 11:51pm:
For me, islam is not a political ideology, it is a very personal thing only, and I have no desire to make it political. I'm sure thats the attitude of a great many muslims in Australia - who like me, strongly advocate peace and secular values.