Arab Spring: A "Democracy" By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet?...

'Our' Revolution: 


The following excerpts are from an English language website for khilafah.  (That's caliphate to you and me.)  It begins by noting that language shapes the way you understand the world, and it quickly jumps to the word democracy.


While Americans associate the word with our rights and responsibilities, Muslims associate it with freedom from tyranny and oppression.  One and the same?  It depends on the tyrant, the oppressor, and what the oppressed have been prevented from doing.

[W]hen they [the Western world] talk[s] about the right of people to govern themselves, they also mean the prevention of religious interference in ruling - whether this is explicitly stated or not.

In viewing democracy as a word representative of being free from a specific tyrant or specific type of tyranny rather than freedom from conceptual tyranny, Muslims have un(?)intentionally misled Americans to believe that they embrace American-style governmental values, for example the freedom to practice your religion of choice and the prevention of the state from imposing a national religion.  The Muslim use of the word democracy has sent the wrong message; America has willingly, blindly, and egocentrically assumed that our definition of democracy is global.

Imagine a human-rights charity who decided that a swastika would be a suitable logo for their organisation, being ignorant of the symbol's association with the Nazis. So, being ignorant of the history and values that come with the symbol they proudly display it on their leaflets and posters. Would this convey the message they wanted?

Cairo substitutes "Muslim" for "Egyptian"

If you didn't know this was coming, you are an idiot.  If you are surprised by this, you need to wake up.  If you have no idea what to do with this knowledge, feel free to climb in my boat.
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Crowds played on slogans made popular during the epic protests that culminated in February. Heard often back then was a cry that soon became famous: “Hold your head up high, you’re Egyptian.” On Friday, “Muslim” was substituted for “Egyptian.” The chant that became the revolution’s anthem, “The people want to topple the regime,” changed on Friday to “The people want to apply God’s law.”


“If democracy is the voice of the majority and we as Islamists are the majority, why do they want to impose on us the views of minorities — the liberals and the secularists?” asked Mahmoud Nadi, 26, a student. “That’s all I want to know.”

NYT: 

Tens of thousands of Egyptian Islamists poured into Tahrir Square on Friday....  

The Glenn Beck Program, June 23 LIVEBLOG (Rick Santorum)

Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program.  Good news!  Come here. [Motions at the camera.]  Come here.  This is the last show Erin's doing with me.  [Hugs Erin.]  No, that's actually really sad news.

Caliphate: Hizb ut-Tahrir

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamic political group with the goal of uniting a Muslim countries intro a caliphate.

They are planning a conference in July in the U.K., and I believe they have already held a conference in the U.S.  I'm still researching about the U.S. conference, but here's a link to the trailer for the U.K. one.

I went to the organization's website.  It had options to view it in different languages.

I opened both the English and Arab options.  For the Arab page, I used the Google Chrome option to translate the page from Arabic to English.  (Note: Text is translated.  Text within graphics, as shown in this pic, cannot be translated in this manner.)

Here are some shots of the English and translated-from-Arabic texts, side by side.  (Click to enlarge.)

The Glenn Beck Program, June 22 LIVEBLOG

Waiting for the show to start, I realize that at this time, a week from tomorrow, it's gonna be super weird.  Last show.

Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program.  [Beck seems a bit more somber than usual.]  Tonight, we're gonna talk about the education program in this country.  We have an audience full of college-aged Americans who are chomping at the bit to have their voice heard and have their chance up to bat.

But first, we have -- it says eight, but I don't actually think it's eight, and I don't think I have an eraser here -- we have seven shows left.  Six after tonight's program.  And I have so much to cover.

God is a Doorknob, part 3

I didn't really consider Beck again -- in general, at all -- until January.  Egyptians were rioting in the streets.  I was stunned and obsessed.  I started to watch the news all day long.  I work at home, and I like to keep the TV on as background noise.  At first I flipped around to different channels, getting different people's takes on things.  I ended up on Fox more than anything else.  And at 4:00, I ended up watching Beck.

With Egypt, it seems that Beck hit a reset button of sorts.  He talked about the daily news, but he also talked about it in terms of what it meant to the web of alliances in the Middle East, which meant he talked about history.  That's when I found out that much of Beck's show is teaching history in light of and as it relates to the most current events.

I had never had a strong understanding of politics in the Middle East.  I knew the basics, I knew enough, and I didn't really care beyond that.  They have oil, they hate us, sometimes they try to kill us, and they're all of the way over there.  Beck helped to teach history, but he also helped provide a framework for me to then learn more on my own.  Tackling the Middle East is a daunting research project, but Beck broke it into manageable pieces and provided me with tools to finally research and learn about the complex issues and history of the region.

While I was studying on my own, I was also devouring news about current events, and there still seemed to be something missing that all other media sources were neglecting to highlight.  I've studied rhetoric at the undergrad and graduate level, and in social movement theory, social movements have leaders.

Who was leading the riots in Egypt?

Yes, yes.  I know.  It was the wonder of social media that allowed the protests to magically unfold.  But someone sent that first tweet.  Someone had some kind of foresight.  Some must have a plan.  

Worse, if the unicorn-glitter-magick of social media really was the only instigating force, then there would be no leader to continue the work once the regime fell... and all of those hopeful people, drunk on democracy, would be at the mercy of any crafty leader who would want to exploit them for personal gain.

Beck saw that.  I think that's when I fell for him.  When Beck drew out the infamous map in which he showed that, in a worst case scenario of the entire world falling apart, Russia might control Australia, I fell for him.  I remember Rachel Maddow skewering him for that map, and I understand how it appears ludicrous.  Any full extension of a worst case scenario looks ludicrous, but his basic sentiments were spot on: something's missing from these protests, we should not be so quick to praise them without critical analysis, the horizon may not be pretty.

And, whatcha know, he was right.

to be continued.
(I've written this section while sleepy, so I hope I captured it right.  An edit may be needed.)