Afghanistan a Democracy?

Afghanistan has just held it's election this past Thursday August 20, 2009. It was a local as well as a presidential election. The presidential candidates are current president Hamid Karzai and his rival Abdullah Abdullah. So far this election is too close to call. There were threats of Taliban violence if the voters went out and voted. The election went fairly well even though the turnout wasn't quite like it was in 2004. In 2004 the turnout was 70% with Hamid Karzai winning the election. However, it could take days before we know the winner of the presidential election.

We hear a lot of political leaders extolling the virtues of democracy. Many of them think democracy is the answer for a free people. I can remember when former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007. Then presidential candidates John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama to name a few said it was important for there to be a democracy in Pakistan. However, democracy has it's drawbacks. Democracy can result in mob rule. Some of the ancient Greek philosophers weren't enthralled with the idea of Democracy. Plato was one philosopher who didn't believe in democracy. I believe it was he that said that democracy could be the closest step to tyranny. The Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was democratically elected by the people in Germany in 1932. We know the results from that election.

Some people mistakenly refer to America as a democracy. We're not. America is a representative republic. We do incorporate democratic principles by electing our leaders as well as voting for various state ballot initiatives whenever there are elections. Otherwise, we're a republic. It would be impossible for every citizen to be able to vote on all types of legislation. Some world leaders view America's government as an example why democracy is such a good thing. However, America's history is totally different from any other country in the world, including Afghanistan. It was America's second president John Adams that said that the Constitution was for a moral and religious people only; it is wholly inadequate for any other. Any semblance of democracy America may have wouldn't work for just any country. Prior to the American Revolution, America was built on a strong moral and religious foundation. America had some major revivals that swept across our land which changed our culture and prepared us for the eventual founding of the United States.

Our Founding Fathers believed in the principle of self-government. The only reason why self-government has worked is because Americans knew that there was a higher authority than self. It was God Almighty. The American people knew truth originated from God. Therefore, that's why we were able to "govern ourselves" successfully. We were built upon the right foundation. It takes a strong moral foundation and reliance upon God as well as personal discipline and responsibility for a "representative democracy"to work. Democracy isn't just voting in elections. What benefit is it to hold an election if the people there elect a brutal dictator? Democracy in that sense is worthless. If the people are not willing to be informed on the issues nor work together then a democracy won't work. Democracy can't work in an unstable country where there is civil unrest, for example. The type of religion a country embraces can make any semblance of democracy impossible.

With the history and tradition of Afghanistan, there's no way a democracy can thrive in that country. It's had a history of civil unrest, coups, and regime changes, for example. Also, the religion of Afghanistan is Islamic. Islam and democracy mix as well as oil and water. Islam doesn't believe in democracy. Islam is a religion by force. If a person doesn't convert to their religion, then that person could get killed. Islam isn't about peaceful coexistence. Islam believes it's the dominant religion. Islam is a road barrier to democracy in Afghanistan. The people there don't know how to rule themselves because all they're used to is the Taliban ruling or some type of military junta. The Afghans are too unstable to have a successful democratic form of government. Democracy in its purest form will never work for a country. Pure democracy could work in a small village with a population of 100 people, for example. Democracy won't work in a representative form if the people in Afghanistan don't have the wisdom nor the moral foundation to choose leaders. Also, the people must know the principles of self-government recognizing there's a higher authority besides self if a representative democracy were to flourish. Democracy isn't everything it appears to be.