[BRIEF NOTE] The Current Iraqi Situation
Apr. 5th, 2004 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldIt looks like al-Sadr isn't going to renounce violence. It apparently doesn't matter that a large majority of Shi'ites don't want an Islamic state, or that the large non-Shi'ite populations would resist being subordinated to a Shi'ite state and in so doing destroy Iraq, or that the indiscriminate use of violence to achieve narrow political goals is immoral.
All this comes down, in the end, to the fact that al-Sadr--like so many other clerics, of whatever faith--is fascinated by the totalitarian impulse latent in all religions. If a particular interpretation of a particular religion offers the only path to divine salvation, surely it's entirely legitimate to use whatever force is necessary to promote it? (This, incidentally, is why ecumenicism and secularism are Good Things for religion: Making any religion an oppressive ideology is a good way to kill it, in the end.)
I've written on Bonoboland about how, in the vacuum left by the removal of Saddam and the Ba'ath, religious conservatives newly unfettered are using their freedom of action to oppress anyone who doesn't behave according to their practices. For women, for instance, the fall of Saddam has led to the imposition of the hijab and the implementation of misogynistic family law.
This hijacking of private religion into a tool of mass oppression isn't unique to Iraq, of course. It's a common practice everywhere. We see it with those people who would force French Muslim women to wear the hijab, or deny Algerian women any legitimate place as actors in their society, or veto a just peace settlement in Sri Lanka, or marginalize non-neo-traditionalist Hindus in Indian society, or maintain a stifling cultural conservatism in Québec, or support fascism.
Just an hour ago, I visited the blog Healing Iraq. There, the author made an interesting statement:
You know, as someone committed to the rule of law, liberalism, and democracy, I should disapprove of that. I really should.
All this comes down, in the end, to the fact that al-Sadr--like so many other clerics, of whatever faith--is fascinated by the totalitarian impulse latent in all religions. If a particular interpretation of a particular religion offers the only path to divine salvation, surely it's entirely legitimate to use whatever force is necessary to promote it? (This, incidentally, is why ecumenicism and secularism are Good Things for religion: Making any religion an oppressive ideology is a good way to kill it, in the end.)
I've written on Bonoboland about how, in the vacuum left by the removal of Saddam and the Ba'ath, religious conservatives newly unfettered are using their freedom of action to oppress anyone who doesn't behave according to their practices. For women, for instance, the fall of Saddam has led to the imposition of the hijab and the implementation of misogynistic family law.
This hijacking of private religion into a tool of mass oppression isn't unique to Iraq, of course. It's a common practice everywhere. We see it with those people who would force French Muslim women to wear the hijab, or deny Algerian women any legitimate place as actors in their society, or veto a just peace settlement in Sri Lanka, or marginalize non-neo-traditionalist Hindus in Indian society, or maintain a stifling cultural conservatism in Québec, or support fascism.
Just an hour ago, I visited the blog Healing Iraq. There, the author made an interesting statement:
Iraqis know very well who those 'pious' people are. They are gangsters, rapists, murderers, thieves, kidnappers, looters, and criminals. They are only using religion as cover. I can't even dream of what would happen if those people were left to make trouble on our streets that way without punishment. I believe that it's now time for Al-Sadr to experience a very bad accident soon. We will be sorry for him I assure you, "Oh poor fellow, what a terrible misfortune, what a great loss" we would say to each other knowingly. It's scenes like these that make me sometimes wonder to myself if Saddam wasn't justified in assassinating all those clerics. Get that new Mukhabarat working.
You know, as someone committed to the rule of law, liberalism, and democracy, I should disapprove of that. I really should.
