There goes the neighborhood - Tunisia Edition

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by RedskinRat

Previously banned islamist party 'Ennahda' has won the election in Tunisia. How long until we see this country as a shining example of what islam brings to humanity once Secularism has been abandoned?

Party leader, Mr. Ghannouchi, stated "We believe that all Tunisian people can survive peacefully within a moderate vision of islam which can be compatible with democracy."

There's no example of islam and Democracy being compatible once islam sinks its fangs in.

Your thoughts?

Your statement is blatantly false. Turkey provides just one of several examples. Turkey has been a democracy for almost a century - since the end of WWI. Turkey is also a bastion of Islam, having provided the capital for the Ottoman empire (which was Muslim) and providing important Islamic pilgrimage sites, such as in Konya. Turkey is overwhelmingly Islamic in demographics and the Islamic presence is quite active. Yet Turkey remains a stable democracy which is an associate (and likely soon a full) member of the European Union.

There are several other examples which could be mentioned: Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Mubarak's Egypt to a limited extent, and more.

And certainly you know that democratic theory is built right into Sunni Islam. That is, since Muhammad said, 'My community will never agree on an error," ijma or democratic consensus has been a Sunni ideal since the beginning of the tradition.