Say it ain't so! Conservative pundits are full of it when they say they support peace in the Middle East. Fox News pundits label the Muslim Brotherhood a "radical" group. Shadi Hamid notes the Muslim Botherhood has a rather secular governing philosophy.
Decades ago, it renounced violence. More recently, the group has publicly committed itself, in Arabic, to many of the foundational components of democratic life, including alternation of power, popular sovereignty, and judicial independence. In its political programs, the Brotherhood has largely stripped its programs of traditional Islamic content. Where the Brotherhood once talked endlessly about "application of shariah law" (tatbig al shariah), it now settles for vague expressions promoting Islamic vaulues and morals. Meanwhile, its vocabulary has shifted from favoring an "Islamic state" to a "civil, democratic state with a Islamic reference."
The Fox News pundits are calling the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists. It doesn't matter to Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck if they have no evidence of the Brotherhood ever committed a terrorist attack. Their job is to create ratings and scare their auiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment