The Egyptian flu

To some naive nonsense that seems rather discomfittingly common in the Counter-Jihad, a recent commenter on Jihad Watch dispatched this salutary response:

"...you have never lived in Egypt, otherwise you wouldn't say that they are on their way to democracy. islam and democracy don't go together."

Nice to see a Jihad Watch commenter speaking elementary sense, for a change.

And Robert Spencer isn't doing much to counter the aforementioned naivete as he dispenses left and right his over-the-counter bromides of Hope and Change for the Egyptian People who, because they are protesting President Morsi, must be "pro-democracy" "secularists".

Thus, he emblazons one report with the headline -- "Egypt: Pro-democracy protestors storm Muslim Brotherhood HQ".  

And another:  "Islamophobia in Egypt: 17 million take to streets to protest Islamization..." to which he adds the editorial remark:  "The protestors oppose the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamization of Egypt".

Even when Spencer is, rarely, acknowledging the problematic nature of such Muslim protestors, he seems intent on continuing to retail his hypothesis that Muslim "secularists" are a relevant factor:

There are secularist protesters in Egypt who don't want to see the Islamization of the country and the full imposition of Sharia. Other protesters, however, hate Morsi for not proceeding fast enough with the Islamization -- and primarily because he hasn't scrapped the hated Camp David Accords and gone on jihad against Israel.

Before one gets over-enthusiastic about the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius in an overwhelmingly Mohammedan country like Egypt, one must subtract from the demographics of these 17 million protestors:

Coptic Christians,

Shia Muslims (remember recent reports about how the Sunni government is oppressing the Shia?),

and

Sunni Muslims who oppose Morsi for reasons other than that they are leaping to de-Islamicize Egypt.

When it comes to Muslims, we must set the bar higher, surely, than declaring that millions of Muslims are "secularists" just because they oppose other Muslims. 

As a commenter on that thread noted, in response to my demurrer to Spencer's cheery optimism about millions of Muslims:

Indeed, we are talking about a country in which 86% of Muslims want the death penalty for apostasy in particular, and even more than that want sharia in general. They have their reasons for opposing Morsi, and ending further Islamization is unlikely on the minds of most. 

Conclusion:

I see the Persian flu strain has mutated, now more virulently optimistic than ever as the Egyptian flu. Signs & symptoms include: a scratchy throat, runny nose, starry eyes, rose-colored glasses, and hope for millions of Muslims to "reform". Come to Hesperado's Pharmacy for your annual flu shots...