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Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West

by Benazir Bhutto

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Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West

by Benazir Bhutto

reviewed by Marilyn Giese

The fate of Mother Earth is at a crossroads. The choice is reconciliation or nuclear war. If that sounds extreme, it is. The way of peace or the way of war?  Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West by Benazir Bhutto puts that question in a new light.

Benazir Bhutto was the first woman ever to lead a Muslim State, and that state is Pakistan. Why should you care about Pakistan? Because it has nuclear arms capability, it borders India, another nuclear state, and touches China, Afghanistan, and the Arabian Sea.

After serving as prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996, Bhutto went into eight years of exile, returning to her homeland in October of 2007. She carried with her the dream of reconciliation between Islam and the democratic countries referred to as "the West". Bhutto was assassinated two months after returning from exile. Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West was finished just days before she was killed.

Bhutto was not the first head of state killed to stop a dream of peace between peoples of differing backgrounds, but she was the first woman who faced the forces of evil mounted against her without backing down. She believed that Islam's message of peaceful coexistence was lost over the centuries of Colonialism and is now being recast by extremists. She called on Muslims worldwide to breathe life into the true message of Islam, a concept unique in that it teaches that all monotheistic religions are paths to salvation.

Trying to condense 381 pages of eye-opening dialogue about the politics of the 21st century and the pending clash of civilizations is a daunting task. Bhutto's book is more than a commentary on the way things are, it lays down choices that can change planet Earth from a disaster waiting to happen to a place of peace and plenty for all.

Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West is not easy reading, but it is a fascinating and gut-wrenching plea for tolerance and cooperation from a Muslim woman who loved her country, her God, and the West.

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Marilyn Huntman Giese was born in Washington, D.C. A short-lived stay in the nation's capitol was followed by life-long residence in Illinois. Mother of five children, she writes of family life, nature and social issues. Avideo she produced about the Dalai Lama was a finalist for Naperville's Cammy Award in 1996. She has published poems in Baby Blessings and in House Blessings, anthologies arranged by June Cotner, and stories and poems in several issues of Rivulets. When the World Changed:A Revolutionary Peace, her book that follows the life of Jesus with color photos, was published in 2002. Marilyn has presented programs on the beginnings of Christianity throughout the western suburbs of Chicago.