Posted on 01/29/2011 10:15:06 AM PST by Texas Peartree
Although modern-day Saudi Arabia (an oxymoron in a land where women are flogged as punishment for being raped) is where Islam was born, there is no question where the heart of the Arab Muslim world beats. Egypt has been the most important Arab nation forever, due to demography (the most populous Arab nation by far), location (at the crossroads of Africa and Asia and within easy distance to Europe), and jurisprudential scholarship (Cairo University is where slightly less irrational ideas for the Arab world are developed).
Although lacking in much exportable natural resources, Egypt enjoys an educated elite, a world-class canal key to international trade and a thriving tourism industry. Couple that with $2 billion per year in US aid and a peace treaty with Israel, and Egypt must be a model for the Arab world, right? Sadly, yes it is a model.
Even in the former European colonies of North Africa, where the mosques were made subservient to flourishing colonial economies and secular colonial government, there is not one successful country. Alas, the anti-rational culture that grows into the Muslim Brotherhood has never been defeated. The mindset in the Arab world is primitive and as a result, there is not one Arab country where one would choose to live over the worst European country.
What is it about the Arab world that makes it so different? Is it that their religion is not based on rational thought? No, all religions are based on a modicum of blind faith. Is it that their culture comes from a desert culture that is too different from modern life? No, Jews came from the desert are defined modernity. Freud, Marx and Einstein were perhaps the three most important men of the past 100 years.
I believe that this is the issue: while some cultures believe that open though and questioning of authority lead to better societies, only the Arab culture has interpreted their religion to forbid it. Put another way, that which is not expressly allowed in the Koran is prohibited. Thus, even thoughts about how to revolutionize business are "haram", not allowed. In places like India and Malaysia, Muslims do not necessarily follow this line of thinking. However, in places like Syria, to question the authority of the ruler is considered a crime against Allah. Thus, each Arab government runs a statist economy based ion permits and favoritism. Worse, all favors go to people in your clan, tribe or sect.
Egypt may go down a new road with true democracy, or Islamic cretinism with the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the entire Arab world will be limited so long as they have a sick culture of woman-hating, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, anti-other-Muslim-sect and anti-West tribalism. All we can do in the West is wait for our energy substitutes and their collapsing fertility to render the Arab world a non-threat.
The only sickness in the Arab world and the ME is islam. Islam is demonic to its core.
“Is it that their religion is not based on rational thought?”
Arguing that faith transcends reason is a far different argument than that faith is transcribed by reason.
“All we can do in the West is wait for our energy substitutes and their collapsing fertility to render the Arab world a non-threat.”
B.S. we have a lot of energy here that our own statist won’t let us use. We could easily provide our own energy needs if the dumbacrates would get out of the way.
Then the middle east would starve. My view is this is not our problem as long as they try to kill us.
A recent UN report suggests that less than 2% of the population in the Arab world reads even one book a year, that a third of the Arab world is illiterate, the Koran not a book in the traditional sense of the word.
Report:One Third of Arab World Iliterate
When I refer to Judeo/Christian religion as being a rational religion, it is because God makes perfect sense (i.e. when He says "don't sin," it is because, other than just being offensive to Him, sin is destructive to a person...even life threatening). And when He builds human life on a foundation of 'free will,' it makes perfect sense because without free will, our expression of love for Him wouldn't be love at all...just robotic obedience of commands.
Can't say that Islam is based on the same profound rational/sane sense of right and wrong. Islam seems to be a jumble of what Mohammed knew about Judeo/Christianity....except that in the end, it serves Satan's purposes.
Whats worse is that most don’t read the Koran they memorize it. That makes it easy to just put what you want in it to brain wash the illiterate.
where women are flogged as punishment for being raped
Besides all the above Egypt has a proud and distinguished history. I dunno, since for ever the only Arab country that has enjoyed my idea of western civilization ‘individual’ success imo...is Turkey.
The people there want for nothing and go about their business without a constant interfearence format.
Sure many will point to the oil producing nations as special because of their wealth but so what? They have oil, discovered by others and marked by others.
Anyone remember MC Hammer and his golden bath room fixtures?
imo they are total failures when compared to other civilizations at their peak.
Because here in there ‘peak’ wealth what have they done for the world?
They gave us nothing but trouble and terrorism.
Oil rich Arab nations haven’t made a pimple on Rome ass as far as accomplishments. Oil Arabs are selfish scum of the earth people that abuse others.
Too bad about the Egyptians suffering through this economic distress. They were the first to buy into the Mid-East peace process and seem to have a gentle down to earth disposition. Since the Carter era I always liked them.
I hope the death cult doesn’t prevail in what could have been a real nice country.
God is the source of reason, in that sense he is beyond all reason, and reason cannot apprehend Him in his entirety. This is different from saying that God is contrary to reason.
I’m am not referring to you, but to a rather glib characterization in the article, that I believe ought to be challenged.
If you want to read more along these lines look up Soren Kierkegaard. He spends quite a bit of time talking about this point.
Gotcha...and completely agree!
Cool.
Kierkegaard is weird. He’s my first guess if anyone was a timetraveller.
Rational thought is not the determining factor for a society. For the most part all societies behave rationally to a similar degree.
Rather it is the “belief system” that determines the character of a society. And belief systems by their very nature are not the result of rational thought. You cannot deduce a believe system. It is the result of inductive “reasoning”.
Belief in God, or in freedom, or in science is beyond the reach of reason. However once you establish a belief system, then one can rationally deduce the details of how to best apply it on a daily basis.
Albania?
Technically incorrect, in at least some cases.
The women who gets raped is flogged not for the rape, but for willingly being out of her home in the company of a male not her relative.
BTW, they usually flog the guy too.
I stopped reading right there.
“...wait for our energy substitutes...”
That is the worst solution, but Obama loves it. We have plenty of energy sources but not allowed to develop them.
Had we been allowed to do so, perhaps we wouldn’t be so involved with the ME to our detriment.
Um, I don’t agree with Marx, but do you doubt he was historically one of the most important men of the 20th century? Specifically that time his ideas took over 1/3rd of humanity?
Oh, I don’t doubt that Marx was important, but in the top 3? I don’t think so. Just because his ideas may have taken over 1/3 of humanity (mostly at the point of a gun I might add) doesn’t mean he is any where near the top 3. I could maybe make a case for Einstein, but Freud??? I can think of many more that were more important than those two.
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