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05/27/2004: "Do Iraqis Hate Democracy?"

Why are Iraqis resisting the opportunity to have a democratic republic with freedom of speech and a say in how they are governed? Why would people, enslaved by a tyrannical dictatorship for over thirty years, resist these wonderful freedoms?

There are two principal reasons:

1) Some people in Iraq were making a good living off the Hussein dictatorship, but they are relatively few in number.

2) The majority of Iraqis have been indoctrinated to believe that God Himself wants to rule them through an Islamic theocracy.

Unlike a democracy, where people have to make decisions, in a theocracy you don’t have to think. The leaders of the theocracy represent God; therefore, people believe that they will be noble and just in their decisions. In addition, they believe that a theocracy will protect them from the false religions of this world and guide them into a happy after life.

Christians, Jews and Muslims and even Atheists in the United States of America hold the same fears, and relentlessly try to impose their beliefs on the rest of society. Challenges to the separation of church and state are commonplace in America. Each of these ideologies / religions tries to elect adherents to their particular belief, thinking that they will be just rulers. The case of John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton (basically an atheist) are prime examples of this thinking, but the outcome, in each case, was less than perfect to say the least.

Iraqis, like Americans, will never achieve a true democracy, until they are Ideology Free.



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Replies: 2 Comments

on Tuesday, June 1st, Patrick J. Conway said

True democracy is when we accept each other as equals. As long as we hold beliefs that declare others evil, we will not have the common denominator that enables us to listen objectively to the views of those we oppose. Only the truth, about God and human existence, can give us the freedom to accept all men as equals

on Tuesday, June 1st, Bob said

I'm not sure what true Democracy is? Is it not woven by many hands and many minds that tug and pull at the fabric from multiple directions at once? If true Democracy is a weave made of many points of view and covert and overt agendas advanced by groups of "true believers", does the finished product represent a single garment that all choose to wear in spite of the fact that it doesn't exactly fit any one individual? American Democracy feels a bit like a pea coat or a military uniform. Is there a civil, non-violent American Democracy that veterans would advance without bloodshed. A peace agenda Democracy that willingly feeds the hungry and provides education and medicine to the world's needy without expectation of payment. A benevolent democracy that declares Peace and promotes the International Rule of Law.
To get to that Democracy, we need more than two political parties.