I asked this some time ago
and had some interesting discussions about it & but nothing satisfied my quest. Until The other night.
A guy from India, now a US citizen was on the radio hawking his book ( I don't recall his name, the books title nor the radio host). As they discussed the hatred his grandfather held for the British as they occupied his land. Continuuing, he spoke of how he understood that hatred but couldn't continue it because of the advances made by the occupiers which in turn enriched his life. During the interview/book touring he also spoke of the current state of affairs. He mentioned that Usama pointed out that the MidEast and the Muslims in particular were fighting for their very way of life. That, try as they might, the ideologies of the west were "corrupting" the Muslim life. They have a set of values & beliefs. Our culture seemingly contradicts those in many ways. People in the MidEast think we are materially rich & spiritually poor. Yet, they watch Jerry Springer just as many of us do. They like Levis. They wear polo shirts & munch Ben & Jerrys & wish they had a swimming pool. As demonic & undignified as our society is, we are free to worship Jehovah or Jesus or Muhammed or the babe in baywatch. We have freedom FROM religion. We have freedom of THOUGHT. If we don't want to put the burka on, nobody will beat us. Should we miss prayer ay 5:25PM because of a baseball game, the morality police will not kill us. Because, in the west thinks people have the right to do things & think things and question authority they are jealous.
They are in the middle of a fight for identity. They have a long, rich history which many of them are willing to kill & die. That history is however, becoming ancient and passe. There must be one or the other. Freedom or religion. Some of them can't reconcile the two. We can and that is too much for many of them. Could all this be the enlightenment in which Islam has long needed. Are we witnessing the death of one ideology to see it's rebirth? Will that rebirth and the ensuing enlightenment, carry it past the camel to the Mercedes and to freedom? Freedom in which these people can choose to worship God without the hardships unduly placed on their backs by clerics & holy men that cannot let go of an ancient script which never said "Never move past this point in time".
It seems we, the west, are the killers. We are also the doctors & engineers & lay people which will embrace our bretheren, after they are freed from their bondages. Unfortunately, as all births, it will be long and painful.
It seems incredibly clear now. The current actions cannot be overlooked, they can be laid in the past though. When the time is right.
and had some interesting discussions about it & but nothing satisfied my quest. Until The other night.
A guy from India, now a US citizen was on the radio hawking his book ( I don't recall his name, the books title nor the radio host). As they discussed the hatred his grandfather held for the British as they occupied his land. Continuuing, he spoke of how he understood that hatred but couldn't continue it because of the advances made by the occupiers which in turn enriched his life. During the interview/book touring he also spoke of the current state of affairs. He mentioned that Usama pointed out that the MidEast and the Muslims in particular were fighting for their very way of life. That, try as they might, the ideologies of the west were "corrupting" the Muslim life. They have a set of values & beliefs. Our culture seemingly contradicts those in many ways. People in the MidEast think we are materially rich & spiritually poor. Yet, they watch Jerry Springer just as many of us do. They like Levis. They wear polo shirts & munch Ben & Jerrys & wish they had a swimming pool. As demonic & undignified as our society is, we are free to worship Jehovah or Jesus or Muhammed or the babe in baywatch. We have freedom FROM religion. We have freedom of THOUGHT. If we don't want to put the burka on, nobody will beat us. Should we miss prayer ay 5:25PM because of a baseball game, the morality police will not kill us. Because, in the west thinks people have the right to do things & think things and question authority they are jealous.
They are in the middle of a fight for identity. They have a long, rich history which many of them are willing to kill & die. That history is however, becoming ancient and passe. There must be one or the other. Freedom or religion. Some of them can't reconcile the two. We can and that is too much for many of them. Could all this be the enlightenment in which Islam has long needed. Are we witnessing the death of one ideology to see it's rebirth? Will that rebirth and the ensuing enlightenment, carry it past the camel to the Mercedes and to freedom? Freedom in which these people can choose to worship God without the hardships unduly placed on their backs by clerics & holy men that cannot let go of an ancient script which never said "Never move past this point in time".
It seems we, the west, are the killers. We are also the doctors & engineers & lay people which will embrace our bretheren, after they are freed from their bondages. Unfortunately, as all births, it will be long and painful.
It seems incredibly clear now. The current actions cannot be overlooked, they can be laid in the past though. When the time is right.