Daniel Keyes

When discussing politics, we – that is, society in general and the mainstream media – tend to talk in partisan terms. You’re either a Liberal or a Conservative. We root for our team, and waive our flag as we sling mud at the other team. It works the same in government – just watch question period. Instead of keeping their head in the game, politicians take part in the chanting and taunting coming from the stands. The media reports on the partisan attacks, rather than the issues that separate the parties, and public discourse follows. It’s a vicious cycle.

As politicians jockey for higher rankings in the polls, some people are left wondering “who’s standing up for the issues? who’s standing up for freedom?” Well, it’s up to us. We can continue waiving our banners in the stands, or we can get up, get engaged and behind those politicians whose priorities lie with the issues, instead of the team they play for in this game our political system has turned into. We need to get to know our candidates instead of blindly voting for the team they represent. Because the issue of freedom doesn’t fit neatly into any one party.

But, as Ron Paul has discovered, freedom has the power to unite when you put partisanship aside. In his book, The Revolution: A Manifsto, he writes:

By the end of 2007, more than twice as many Meetup groups had been formed in support of our campaign than for all the rest of the candidates in both major parties combined. I have never seen such a diverse coalition rallying to a single banner. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, constitutionalists, whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, antiwar activists, home-schoolers, religious conservatives, freethinkers – all were not only involved, but enthusiastically so. And despite their philosophical differences in some areas, these folks typically found, to their surprise, that they rather liked each other.

The mainstream media had no idea what to make of it, since we were breaking all the rules and yet still attracting such a varied and passionate following. I began making this a central point of my public speeches: the reason all these different groups are rallying to the same banner, I said, is that freedom has a unique power to unite us.

In case that sounds like a cliché, it isn’t. It’s common sense. When we agree not to treat each other merely as a means to our own selfish ends, but to respect one another as individuals with rights and goals of our own, cooperation and goodwill suddenly become possible for the first time.

And that’s what needs to start happening here in Canada. There’s more to politics than partisanship.

As a journalism student, I worked on an assignment with a small team mapping the gay Muslim community in Toronto.

We spoke to a number of gay Muslims, moderate or “progressive” Muslims sympathetic to the gay Muslim community, as well as Muslim fundamentalists who believe anyone doing anything contrary to Islam should be killed. We heard stories about people forced to flee their countries or face a gruesome death – murder backed by their own families, communities and governments. We also found out that there is a lot more Muslim fundamentalism in Canada than we thought, and that most progressive Muslims would not speak out, fearing the consequences. Even once gay Muslims arrived in Canada, they felt they needed to hide. There was barely anywhere for them to turn. 

With so much fear within the Muslim community, those outside of the community have been forced to address the issue. Since there’s no way a community outside of Islam can get Muslim extremists to change their ideology – Islam is the only way for them – this has resulted in war. And while the use of force is sometimes necessary, it only addresses the immediate conflict. But a deeper conflict remains, and the fighting further polarizes the situation.

Speaking to the Muslim community,  we found that the main difference between extremists and progressives is interpretation. Progressive Muslims just have a different perspective on Islam. And now there’s a sign of a greater attempt to address this issue from within the Muslim community and spread the peaceful perspective. 

A Toronto mosque is offering a “12-step extremist detox program” for radical Muslims that its director says is the first of its kind in Canada.

The Specialized De-radicalization Intervention program is intended to provide “treatment and counselling” to young Muslims sympathetic to the al-Qaeda ideology.

The article goes on:

The program has 12 steps, including: Allah, the Koran and Mohammad; the connections between Islam, Christianity and Judaism; other faiths; Canadian society; and countering extremism through education, public speaking and writing.

An important part of the program involves listening to the youths and talking about the damage caused by Islamist terrorist attacks such as the recent Mumbai massacre and the London bombings, Mr. Shaikh said.

“And we just want to encourage them to be faithful and do not take the law into your own hand, always try to build something rather than destroy something,” he said.

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We’ve come a long way as a society. It’s not hard to imagine a time when we’ll all love each other. 

Masjid el Noor’s 12-Step Extremist Detox Program:

1 Who is Allah: His Mercy to all.

2 Using verses from the Holy Koran that speak of peace and good conduct.

3 Who is Muhammad: His mercy, kind manner, humble attitude, wisdom, patience.

4 Using hadith: Commentaries that provide ethics and other moral training.

5 Using stories of Companions: A knowledge-based life of academic pursuit.

6 Stories from history: Contexts and underlying factors, not always glory of God.

7 Islamic scholarship: What it seeks for the individual to know, and how.

8 Abrahamic Faith: The interconnectedness of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

9 Other faiths: Common ground, not fighting ground.

10 Open society of Canada: What it means for the majority (how to reconcile dogmatic idealism with pragmatic realism).

11 Seeing the whole as one: Global challenges affecting us all.

12 Advocacy: Actively countering extremist ideology through education, public speaking and writing.