Egypt Military Enlists Religion to Quell Ranks

[cbayer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/world/middleeast/egypt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


Ravy Shaker/El Shorouk Newspaper, via Associated Press
Lawyers for leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who were arrested as part of a government crackdown over the past month appeared in court in Cairo on Sunday.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MAYY EL SHEIKH
Published: August 25, 2013


CAIRO — The Egyptian military has enlisted Muslim scholars in a propaganda campaign to persuade soldiers and policemen that they have a religious duty to obey orders to use deadly force against supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi.

The effort is a signal that the generals are worried about insubordination in the ranks, after security forces have killed hundreds of their fellow Egyptians who were protesting against the military’s removal of the elected president — violence by the armed forces against civilians that is without precedent in the country’s modern history.

The recourse to religion to justify the killing is also a new measure of the depth of the military’s determination to break down the main pillar of Mr. Morsi’s support, the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, after ousting Mr. Morsi in the name of tolerance, inclusiveness and an end to religious rule, the military is now sending religious messages to its troops that sound surprisingly similar to the arguments of radical militants who call for violence against political opponents whom they deem to be nonbelievers.

“When somebody comes who tries to divide you, then kill them, whoever they are,” Ali Gomaa, the former mufti appointed under President Hosni Mubarak, is seen telling soldiers in a video made by the military’s Department of Moral Affairs. “Even with the sanctity and greatness of blood, the prophet permits us to fight this,” he said in the video, likening opponents of the military takeover — implicitly, the Brotherhood — to an early Islamic sect that some scholars considered to be infidels, and thus permissible to kill. Mr. Gomaa later said the military had shown the video to troops and riot police officers across Egypt.

more at link

[cleanhippie]

1. This should go well. It's worked every other time it's been tried.

[trotsky]

2. Hey, no sarcasm necessary there.

It's worked EXTREMELY well throughout history - if you convince people that god wants them to do something, nothing else matters. And more importantly, you've just made their orders impervious to reasoning.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." -- Blaise Pascal

[dimbear]

3. It's always worth reviewing the infamous Hitler oath.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_oath

There's been much wondering how much it fueled war crimes. In a society where militarism is pervasive and very high value is set on personal honor, oaths can be more important drivers than conscience by far.

[warrant46]

4. And in line with the Egyptian military’s Department of Moral Affairs.

This is how you get someone to drop the pellets in the gas chamber