Religion cannot be used for political ends: Egypt's Sabbahi

[cbayer]

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/62894/Egypt/Politics-/Religion-cannot-be-used-for-political-ends-Egypts-.aspx

Opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi says longstanding Islamist practice of using places of worship for electioneering should be formally outlawed and subject to prosecution

Ahram Online, Sunday 20 Jan 2013


Nasserist Hamdeen Sabbahi (Photo: AP)

Former presidential candidate and founder of the Popular Egyptian Current movement Hamdeen Sabbahi on Saturday called for the prosecution of anyone found using places of worship for electoral campaigning in the run-up to Egypt's parliamentary polls.

During an interview with prominent television anchor Mahmoud Saad on NAhar TV, Sabbahi – whose Popular Current intends to contest upcoming elections under the umbrella of the opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) – called on Egypt's poor to stop parliamentary candidates from exploiting their votes to achieve political ends in the name of religion.

Islamist parties have long been accused of using mosques and religious discourse to persuade voters to cast ballots for their candidates.

In advance of Egypt's post-revolution constitutional referendum on 19 March 2011, Islamist figures reportedly warned voters that those who voted against proposed constitutional amendments would 'go to hell.'

more at link

[trotsky]

1. "Islamist parties have ... been accused of using mosques and religious discourse to persuade voters"

Both major parties have done this for years here in the USA.



But if you speak out about it here, you're branded a vile nasty bigoted fundamentalist atheist.