PrintMarch 31, 2006
Cultural Collapse Spells Doom For Democracy
From a strictly military perspective, Iraq represents a stunning victory for America. But as capably as American forces prevailed over Saddam Hussein on the field of battle, the post—war effort has been frustrating, to say the least. Endeavors to elevate Iraq's new government to a modern version of the democratic process, despite seeming so close to the final goal, are regularly discouraged and stalled.
The reasons for this quandary are simple, yet fundamentally profound. In short, democracy (or any of its derivatives such as our own representative republic) cannot by itself create or uplift a culture. Rather, it will only succeed at reflecting it.
To the degree that democracy has succeeded in western civilization, it has done so as a result of an inherent regard for the rights of all, including the weak, which itself is rooted in the Judeo—Christian belief system undergirding that civilization. Among those cultures that do not inherently recognize such truths, democracy,...(Read Full Article)
