We're told that Islam is somehow inconsistent with a democratic culture, yet more than half of the world's Muslims are today contributing citizens in democratic societies. It is suggested that the poor, in their daily struggles, care little for self-government, yet the poor especially need the power of democracy to defend themselves against corrupt elites. People from the Middle East share a high civilization, a religion of personal responsibility and a need for freedom as deep as our own. It is not realism to suppose that one-fifth of humanity is unsuited to liberty. It is pessimism and condescension, and we should have none of it.
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