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Iconoclastic commentator Ann Coulter once made headlines by suggesting that “(America) should invade (Islamic) countries, kill their leaders and convert the people to Christianity.”
Her idea – if it was really an idea – was promptly laughed out of court, as well as being branded an example of a corresponding American ‘fundamentalism’ by the apologist Left. I can’t really argue with that response. If an operation such as Coulter proposed were in any way feasible (or affordable) it would surely be the most worthwhile and benevolent action by a nation in human history. Sadly, it isn’t feasible, nor is it affordable.
Despite that, the idea that a Muslim country can be de-Islamised is not political science-fiction. There are isolated examples which may allow for it, owing to unique historic factors and local ethnic aspirations. I am frequently presented with the idea that Iran (Persia), Egypt, and Syria all have ancient identities which precede the Islamisation of their territories by Abu Bakr and his marauding armies, and for which they might be willing (if presented with the right amount of Western encouragement) to trade their rotten Islamic present. How might this be achieved?
The most notable case of a country attempting to rid itself of the strictures of Islamic doctrine is that of Turkey in the time of Ataturk. Although rarely explicit, Ataturk had little affection for the Islamic religion (or at least its social application) and his bold, sweeping reforms severely curtailed the faith in Turkish society. Ataturk (and his supporters) wanted a secular, Westernised Turkey; one that would bare little to no resemblance to the Ottoman Empire – with all its fanaticism and slovenly Eastern habits. The reforms so implemented were successful and would go on to secularise and partially Europeanise the Republic for over 60 years, before being rapidly reversed by the AKP party of Tacip Erdogan, a self-confessed Islamist and dedicated Sunni.
Turkey’s experiment with modernity was destined to fail all along. Despite their genuine desire to Westernise, the Turks remained overwhelmingly Muslim in allegiance, having Islamic funerals for the dead, Islamic rituals for the young and a large Crescent despoiling the national flag. Turkey did not de-Islamise because there was never an intention of de-Islamising.
A comparable experiment in Westernisation took place in Iran before the revolution. Backed by American and British leaders and inspired by the example of Ataturk, the authoritarian ‘Shah’ Reza Pahlavi enacted massive social reforms aimed at liberalising and modernising Persian society. In the urban elites this was a roaring success. Young middle and upper class urbanites fully adopted the freedoms of the modern world, celebrating the diminishment of Islamic authority. The descendants of these people are now largely living in the West, having fled the country after the Islamic uprising of 1979.
Why did that uprising occur? For many reasons, but one of the most essential is that a nation is not its elite. Working and lower-middle class Iranians (especially those from impoverished backgrounds) were not ready for such rapid change. When the rabble-rousing populists of revolution appeared, they thus found a sizable number of henchmen willing to topple the ‘arrogant’ pro-Western elite. The rest is history.
These days, the Iranian diaspora (descendants of the Iranian upper classes) assures the West that the next attempt at Westernisation will succeed. They may be right, they may be wrong. It will be a while before we can know one way or the other.
In Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria and Algeria, the middle and upper classes are also secular. They too dream of civilising their respective countries; that is, bring the general population up to their own level of personal development. Yet as with Iran, the majority of Egyptians (excepting Christians), Lebanese (excepting Christians), Tunisians and Syrians are uneducated, jobless, illiterate, and supremely devout in their attachment to Islamic consolations. The elite can wish away the days and months, but nothing will change without a long, difficult and expensive process of public education and social reform.
De-Islamisation (of countries, societies, races) is not an impossible prospect. It may happen at some point in the future. But at the moment it is simply utopian, and as likely as the elimination of tradition from any nation, Islamic or otherwise.
D, LDN
Defend the Modern World 
Its not a science fiction idea. It’s indeed a necessity. Furthermore, its has already been done for a similar ideology although maybe a little less dangerous towards progress: the nazism… Do uou remember denazification?
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And Japan. After WWII, Japanese religious fanaticism was countered by America and the West.
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To purge a society of it’s core organizational ideolgoy, we would need to replicate the conditions found in post-WWII Germany and Japan. This means:
A complete and utter destruction of the entire civilization’s modern infrastructure, slaughter of the majority of their fighting age males, the total reduction of their economy and industry to the level of subsistence agriculture, imposed martial law, and the total degradation and humiliation of that society through ruthless mass violence resulting in their total military defeat – a complete annihilation of their forces and subjugation of their citizenry.
…Think the West has the balls for that again?
Me neither..
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I agree. It’s a great shame. Islam today threatens us just as much as Japan did then. Alas, the West is too old, too relaxed and too tired of war to fight this war effectively.
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It would also require us naming the enemy. At the moment we go to war against ‘terror’, ‘fascism’ or ‘poverty’ – but never against ‘Islam’. We would have to state openly that Islam itself is the problem and that it must be dismantled.
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Apologies to all for a couple of schoolboy grammatical errors in this article. I wrote it very quickly last night.
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Mostly the trend appears to me to be going in the opposite direction. Islamic countries are becoming more extreme. The murders of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh, introduction of the death penalty for blasphemy in Pakistan, increasing numbers of executions in Saudi Arabia, not to mention the emergence of the Islamic State are just a few examples.
Ataturk was motivated by the fact that the West in those days was overwhelmingly powerful and the Ottoman Empire was the sick man of Europe. Now Europe itself is a sick man with evaporating birth rates and ever rising national debts. No wonder nobody thinks to copy Western ideas in the current age.
On a more positive note however I do wonder if there isn’t also an undercurrent of insecurity in the Islamic religion nowadays, perhaps the more extreme punishments are actually evidence of this.
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There’s a lot of insecurity – both psychological and social. Muslim regimes know that they are competing with modernity itself. The youths of the Muslim world have access to the internet, YouTube, facebook etc…
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If Merkel gets her wish granted and Turkey becomes an EU member I believe we are well and truly beyond a point of no return. MILLIONS of Muslims moving freely throughout Europe and any Muslim from any Islamic country who wishes to get Turkish citizenship is allowed to ride that train too. Terrorism unfettered and without boundaries as I don’t believe an already strained security/intelligence service can keep check on the incomprehensible numbers involved.
Pandoras box to add to the genie already out of the bottle!.
This will only massively speed up islamification of Europe surely.
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Turkey’s ascension would be the end. No doubt. 70 million Muslims is too many to compete with on an aging continent. If Merkel forces this policy through, she will go down as the greatest enemy of the West since Stalin.
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Here’s an interesting article on What Turkey is going to bring to the table.http://hsrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2KLtaqhnFxWJ3MAIXnO2FxH/RV=1/RE=1450119585/RH=aHNyZC55YWhvby5jb20-/RO=2/RU=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5taW50cHJlc3NuZXdzLmNvbS8yMTE2MjQtMi8yMTE2MjQv/RS=%5EADAeVfY1XwKR8fLIJek4FRlUh9t4tA-
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Shocking (but not surprising).
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