Morocco: The limits of Islamic religious tolerance

Finally, Rep. Wolf wrote Samuel Kaplan, American ambassador to Morocco, warning, “the outcome could negatively affect our bilateral relations.”   Yet in a Muslim world where several regimes actively persecute religious minorities and promote violent extremism, Rabat stands apart at some political cost.  Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council argued:

America desperately needs allies that are willing and able to promote moderate interpretations of Islam at the expense of more extreme ones.  In Morocco, it is fortunate to have found one.

This doesn’t mean Washington should be silent about violations of religious liberty.  But its response should be measured.  Are the deportations a onetime response to domestic pressure or a long-term policy change?  Low-key diplomacy may be a more effective tactic to answer that question and limit any crackdown.

Moreover, as far as religious persecution goes, Morocco remains an amateur.  Christians, Jews, and others in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Indonesia, and elsewhere can only wish they lived in Morocco.  Several of these countries also are sources of terrorist funding and teaching.  It is important to keep the spotlight on the worst oppressors.

Further, as Berman notes, Morocco remains a source of moderate Islamic interpretation.  Any kind of Muslim reformation (or Vatican II) will have to come from within the Islamic world.  Morocco, whose king officially traces his lineage back to the prophet Mohammed, may help this process.  Developing more liberal Islamic societies is the ultimate solution for limits on religious liberty in Morocco and elsewhere.

Finally, the dialogue needs to reach beyond Washington.  For instance, a group of evangelical pastors visited Morocco in May.  Spokesman Rev. David Anderson of Sarasota, Florida, explained:

Our delegation came to Morocco to quietly pursue a better understanding of the complex circumstances surrounding these deeply troubling events.  Moroccan culture highly values personal relationships and those of us who have experience here in Morocco feel strongly that working person to person is the best way to find a lasting resolution to a serious problem.

This kind of engagement ultimately may be more effective than government pressure in opening Moroccan society.

The Moroccan government has greatly disappointed its friends in America.  The challenge is to find the best strategy to draw Rabat back to a policy of greater religious liberty and tolerance.  Engaging rather than demonizing one of Washington’s few real friends in the Arab world would seem to be the better route.

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.  A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions:  A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).