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Egyptians are waking up to a frightening present and an uncertain future. After the six week sit in by pro Morsi supporters demanding the reinstatement of their Islamist leader, came to a bloody end, the world wonders what lies ahead for Egypt. There’s no doubt the Muslim Brotherhood leaders and supporters feel that justice and legitimacy are on their side even though their year in power lost the sympathy and loyalty of much of the country. But when a country’s elected government is forced out, for whatever reasons where can people find stability?
The loss of life is a relentless feature of so many conflicts across the Middle-East. But when Egyptians shoot and kill other Egyptians, when there is no talking and force becomes the only language people understand, western discussions on democracy and human rights seem a little flat. Add to this the insistence by many that they’re willing to die for their freedom, shed their blood for Islam, and another uncomfortable truth becomes apparent. That many Islamic countries, despite enjoying the cultural and more secular lifestyles of the west, always use the most divisive forms of religious rhetoric to wound rather than heal their countries. Hardliners, Islamists, liberals and progressives are all forced to sit somewhere on the religious spectrum.
In such contexts it seems to me we cannot judge Egypt by our democratic standards however imperfect our own systems might be. Democracy is not simply a numbers game; its real value lies in its commitment to upholding pluralism – a pluralism of voices, perspectives, lifestyles and beliefs all based on an individual commitment to peace and stability. We in the west, for all our grumblings about our own elected governments and our institutions rarely protest or march, because in the end we have systems and the freedom to remind our leaders when they’re failing, when they’re not serving the people. Maybe we’re just too comfortable and the political stakes aren’t high enough...