29 March 2011

Members & citizens

"The crucial feature of a republican constitution is not democracy, but representation, and this in turn requires a territorial jurisdiction, along with the loyalties that feed it. These loyalties become durable through the three paramount virtues of the citizen: law-abidingness, sacrifice in war, and public spirit in peace." (The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat, Roger Scruton, 2002; page  55). 
A democratic society has members, a republican society has citizens. The member can conduct himself with honor and dignity but the citizen wields duty and authority. 
"The three virtues that sustain the gift of citizenship have their equivalents in Muslim societies. The Muslim must abide by the shari'a; he must be prepared to sacrifice himself in jihad; and he must pay a tenth of his goods to the zakat. But these are duties owed to God, not to strangers, and the meticulous fulfillment of them may sometimes heal society, and sometimes blow it apart." (The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat, Roger Scruton, 2002; page  60). 

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