The Future of Islam (sidenote on "Mormonism")?

This week’s unrest in Iran, aside from getting CNN in a bit of trouble with the NY Times, underscores something I’ve been saying for a while. Simply put, in today’s world, I think the problem of radical militant Islam is a self-correcting problem. With our modern world, the internet, twitter (apparently a major source of the goings-on in Iran at the moment), etc. an exceptionally hardline isolationist ideology will become more and more difficult to maintain.

I’ve always felt that the problem with radical Islam was something that only Muslims could fix. If there were a group of LDS radicals who thought that flying airplanes into buildings was God’s will, it would be unfair to label all Mormons as identifying with or condoning those. It raises an interesting question as to what “Mormon” even means, something I’ve argued many times with some of my Yale friends. Can you call RLDS, now Community of Christ, Mormon? Are they a subset of Mormonism? What about the “fundamentalist” Mormons? President Hinckley once said that the term “fundamentalist Mormon” is an oxymoron, but I’m personally uncomfortable denying polygamous offshoots of the mainstream LDS church the label “Mormon.” They have to have some label, and they themselves do descend, religiously, from the teachings of Joseph Smith. I like to call myself a “mainstream Mormon” to differentiate myself from the other offshoots, and I think that's a good label.

Anyway, the point is, if people claiming to be Mormon were doing these acts of terror, then we Mormons would have to obviously condemn them, but in doing so would have to define what we felt true Mormonism is. This is the same problem that Muslims have today. For much of the Western World their religion has been largely defined by a select few. In order for that to change, those who claim the title “Muslim” must retake it for themselves. It’s not something that I, as a non-Muslim, can even help with. That’s why articles like the following are encouraging.

Mubai Killers To Be Denied Muslim Burial

Islam, Virgins, and Grapes

A Quiet Revolution Grows in the Muslim World

At the same time, I realize that some things will never entirely die, and I’m not naïve enough to think that my simple blog entry is doing any kind of real justice to the myriad complex issues at play here. Fundamentalist radical Islam is probably around to stay. However, I do think I am right that the definition of “Muslim” and what Islam actually teaches and is about is something that is an internal matter of the Muslims themselves. We LDS get angry when someone tries to define our beliefs for us, saying that we actually believe things that we do not, and so I must afford the same privilege to the Muslims. They get to define what their religion is about, and what submission to your religion means. Some may take a minimalist approach, that you must only say the shahada. (That would be similar to my personal approach to Mormonism—limiting “Mormon orthodoxy” to the temple recommend questions.) Others might object (as many have to my minimalist approach to Mormonism). But it’s their conversation. I can only sit by, watch, and occasionally ask questions to my (one) Muslim friend. But I am seeing encouraging signs, as evidenced by these articles. And I have faith in the power of modern technology to aid the education of most of the people on the planet.

Eventually I think the moderate Muslims will win out. I mean, just look at around. I hate to be blunt, but eventually those who perpetuated the Islamic Revolution of 1979 are going to die. There are many indications that the up and coming generation of Iranians are not of similar mind. It’s a self-correcting problem, given enough time. And I think this example of Iran is a good microcosm for what could, and probably will, happen over the next decades and centuries. Yes, this is a long-term view. I'm under no illusions about its affect for the immediate future.