Word: secularize
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...just abstract drama. While sixteenth century artists like Johann Sebastian Bach certainly had a sincere religious motivation to continue the tradition of setting the Passion--the biblical story of Christ's arrest and crucifixion--to music, they certainly did not fail to take advantage of the abstract drama which secular audiences can easily appreciate...
...roots of those clashes, and to introduce people from around the world who are fighting, with careful passion, for their beliefs. They immediately present a host of nuanced, difficult questions. To what extent should we trade off our environment for our economy? How should the advancement of a secular global mentality make room for God? As the world becomes increasingly integrated by technology and communications, these questions will become more relevant. Economic shifts in Kuala Lumpur can, we have seen, trigger shocks in Phoenix. The destruction of Brazil's rain forests may kick off climate changes in North America...
...Egypt the strategy of these relative moderates is for successive waves of activists to infiltrate key institutions--such as the legal and health-care professions, the education system, the media--until the secular system peels away and a truly Islamic order emerges. Among the increasing numbers of ordinary Muslims frustrated by unemployment and political repression, the fundamentalists' message has a striking appeal: citizens can change their lives for the better by doing nothing more than harnessing their traditional faith in Allah...
Abdul Koddus says he is confident his vision of Islam will prevail in Egypt and across the Arab world. Recent patterns seem to support his view: while secular governments have contained, if not eliminated, terrorist groups, they have enjoyed less success in holding back the tide of Islam as a political force. In Algeria and Turkey, for example, Islamic parties won stunning electoral victories. Though the triumphs were later reversed by military-backed crackdowns, that only confirmed the potency of their challenges...
...somebody with Abdul Koddus' secular upbringing can turn to Islam for the solution, many others will eventually do so too. Abdul Koddus even got the blessing of his father, an editor and novelist known for his racy, romantic themes. "I could have chosen a completely different path, but my father did not object," says Koddus. "The way I see it, if Islam and liberalism can exist in one household, they can exist in the same society." And, with that, Abdul Koddus excused himself and went to pray...