Are religion and democracy incompatible?

With the Pope visiting Britain, amidst a sea of controversy, last night seemed an apt time for the Young Fabians to stage a debate on religion and democracy, in this case a debate on Islam and democracy, at the Embassy of the most populous Muslim democracy in the world – Indonesia.

A fascinating country, with a rich and diverse history, Indonesia has made the transition from Dutch colonoy, post-war independence, the regimes of Sukarno and Soeharto to modern democracy – in some respects more modern, some may contend, than ourselves. Just over a decade since emerging from dictatorship, the proportion of women elected to Indonsia’s parliament is 27.3 per cent; in Britain, the figure is only 21 per cent.

As Young Fabian Claire French writes in last week’s Tribune Magazine:

“… 47% of Swedish Members of Parliament are female … in Rwanda … 56 per cent of legislators are women.

“Britain’s measly 21 per cent ranks 41st out of 184 lower chambers, in terms of representation of women.”

So that’s one myth about a Muslim nation and democracy knocked down. Another, that of Islam subsuming all other religions and driving them out, is neatly dispelled by the map below, which shows the breadth and spread of religions in Indonesia:

For the record, the figures are 86.1 per cent Muslim, 8.7 per cent Christian, 3 per cent Hindu, 1.8 per cent Buddhist or other.

In the debate, the speakers were Dr Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford and trustee of the board of British Muslims for secular democracy and Dr Sukma, a leading Indonesian academic in this field who is visiting the UK, with Dr Hargey quoting chapters from the Qur’an to make the case for why Islam is perfectly compatible both with other religions and democracy, hitting out at extremist Wahhabi preachers in east London.

As we were reminded by a question from the floor, the effect of these preachers can be corrosive, a primary school teacher from Newham telling the story of a Muslim boy in his class who’d been told it was irreligious to bow to non-believers – this, coming from a British-born child in London 2010.

Democracy – this is new

A delightful documentary was buried in the BBC4 schedule late last Sunday. Please Vote for Me remains on iPlayer over the weekend, and I’d urge you to watch it if you’ve got an hour free.

Weijun Chen’s film, in which he records schoolchildren in China undertaking an election for class monitor, is in equal measure funny, touching, disturbing and fascinating. In a country without national elections, how will the youngsters deal with the challenge of seeking office with democratic legitimacy?

It begins with their teacher explaining the process they are about to undertake, and indeed democracy itself: “This is new,” she understates. And it ends in tears as two of the candidates (unlike our recent election) have to deal with defeat.

In the end it is a landslide victory (I won’t spoil your enjoyment by telling you who wins) but the process which brings the class to this outcome is fascinating to observe.

There is something to be learnt about children and about human nature no doubt. But, ultimately, it is amazing – given the assumed lack of exposure these eight year olds in Wuhan, the capital city of the central Chinese province of Hubei, have had to democratic political processes – how quickly the youngsters adapt to politics, and in particular, how similarly they adopt the characteristics we can associate with politicians.

This is evident in the language they use, the way they interact with each other, (look out for attack-laden debates), the candidates’ grasp of deal-making and carrot-dangling (and, sadly, bribery and lies), their understanding of the need to consult with the electorate, the eagerness of others to advise and fulfil their own ambitions (primarily the kids’ parents), and a macho male aggression. Plus the frailty and insecurity political candidates can display in private. It was not hard to make the leap from despondent child head down and holding hands with father to the Western politician being reassured and looked after by adviser or bag carrier.

A remarkable piece of work; it’s not hard to see why it won awards around the world. It’s not a new film – indeed I understand the BBC first showed it a couple f years ago – but if you’ve not come across it before, I’d highly recommend a viewing in the next couple of days.

You can watch a trailer of Please Vote for Me here.