Sounds like fun...
Posted on 01/02/2009 12:07:35 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Many Pakistanis now believe that the recent Islamic terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, was the work of the Israeli Mossad, or the American CIA. Such fantasies are a common explanation, in Moslem nations, for Islamic terrorist atrocities. Especially when women and children, and Moslems, are among the victims, other Moslems tend to accept fantastic explanations shifting the blame to infidels (non-Moslems).
Conspiracies are not unique to the Moslem world, but they are much more common there. After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, many Moslems again blamed Israel. A favorite variation of this is that, before the attacks on the World Trade Center, a secret message went out to all Jews in the area to stay away. Another variation has it that the 19 attackers (all of them Arab, 15 from Saudi Arabia) were really not Arabs, but falsely identified as part of the Israeli deception. In the United States, some Americans insist that the attack was the work of the U.S. government, complete with the World Trade Center towers being brought down by prepositioned explosive charges. While few Americans accept this, the Moslem fantasies are widely accepted in the Moslem world. Even Western educated Arabs, speaking good English, will casually express, and accept, these tales of the Israeli Mossad staging the attacks, to trick the U.S. into attacking Afghanistan and Iraq. Americans are shocked at this, but the Moslems expressing these beliefs just shrug.
American troops arriving in Iraq go through a real culture shock as they encounter these cultural difference. They also discover that the cause of this, and many other Arab problems, is the concept of "inshallah" ("If God wills it.") This is a basic tenet of Islam, although some scholars believe the attitude preceded that religion. In any event, "inshallah" is deadly when combined with modern technology. For this reason, Arab countries either have poorly maintained infrastructure and equipment (including military stuff), or import a lot of foreigners, possessing the right attitudes, to maintain everything. That minority of Arabs who do have the right attitude towards maintenance and personal responsibility are considered odd, but useful.
The "inshallah" thing is made worse by a stronger belief in the supernatural, and magic in general. This often extends to technology. Thus many Iraqis believe that American troops wear sunglasses that see through clothing, and armor vests that are actually air conditioned. When they first encounter these beliefs, U.S. troops thought the Arabs are putting them on. Then it sinks in that Arabs really believe this stuff. It's a scary moment.
However, many troops learn to live with, and even exploit, these odd beliefs. When troops at one base discovered that they weren't being attacked much, because many of the locals believed that the base was surrounded by a force field, the troops would casually make reference to their force field, when they were outside the wire and among the locals. This reinforced the force field myth, and made the base safer. Other troops would invent new fantasies, like a pretending that a handheld bit of military electronics was actually a mind reading device. That often made interrogations go a lot quicker. Not all Arabs believe in this stuff, and those that didn't and worked for the Americans, often as an interpreter, could only shrug their shoulders when asked about it.
This easy acceptance of fantasies is exploited by leaders throughout the Middle East, and the Moslem world in general. Leaders who know better, build on these fantasies as a way to maintain their control over the population. The problem is a dirty little secret in the Moslem world, that leaders and academics don't even like to discuss it openly, much less with infidels. But it is real, and you can read all about it in the local media, or overhear it in the coffee shops.
What a crock.
Actually, Arabia bit the dirt politically and culturally when the Mongols invaded and took over the place. The Mongols didn’t quite make it to France so Western Europe was allowed to “develop” itself out of the Dark Ages
It's survival gear for folks who live for generations with a boot on their neck. It makes it easy to stitch loyalty from one tyrant to the next. One guy's out? New guy in? It's meant to be...
So if we nuke Mecca, it's inshallah.
However, most historians debunk this as the cause of the destruction of the library. They believe it was a combination of fires which started with Caesars assault on Alexandria and continued throughout the years. This, combined with the fact that the “books” were actually scrolls which didn't age well, led to the loss of the library contents.
http://www.bede.org.uk/library.htm
I believe that the basis of loss of knowledge and tech capabilities comes down to the same reason that Omar ordered the books destroyed in the story you spoke of. If it's not in the Koran and Mohammed didn't sanction it, Muslims can't explore it or involve themselves with it.
Pretty limiting in the scientific arena, eh?
Actually, the Babylonians invented the first known character
for zero.
Interesting read about the evolution of the concept is “Zero, Biography of a Dangerous Idea”.
Sounds like fun...
I have heard, from a number of sources (including a well known professor of Arabic Studies) that “inshallah” is both a saying and an excuse. “I will see you tomorrow, inshallah,” generally means “I’ll show up, if I feel like it.” And if this person doesn’t feel like it the next day, God willed it. “We will not fire upon you tomorrow, inshalla,” means you should prepare for an attack and so on. And they don’t consider it lying. They literally believe that such behavior is what God wanted them to do in that circumstance. Their word, their actions mean nothing. All is controlled by God. Look up fatalism, its pretty much the same thing.
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My mother, a strong-willed southern baptist, used to say she would do something, “If the good lord is willing and the creek don’t rise”.
After reading the piece, the title is misleading and ridiculous.
Old Mrs. Watkins awoke one spring morning to find that the river had flooded the entire first floor of her house. Looking out of her window, she saw that the water was still rising. Two men passing by in a rowboat shouted up an invitation to row to safety with them. "No, thank you," Mrs. Watkins replied. "The Lord will provide."
The men shrugged and rowed on. By evening, the water level forced Mrs. Watkins to climb on top of the roof for safety. She was spotted by a man in a motorboat, who offered to pick her up. "Don't trouble yourself," she told him. "The Lord will provide."
Pretty soon, Mrs. Watkins had to seek refuge atop the chimney. When a National Guard helicopter came by on patrol, she waved it on, shouting, "The Lord will provide." So the helicopter left, the water rose, and the old woman drowned.
Dripping wet and thoroughly annoyed, she came through the pearly gates and demanded to speak to God. "What happened?" she cried.
"For cryin' out loud, lady," God said, "I sent two boats and a helicopter, WHAT DO YOU WANT???!!!"
In Islam the highest intellectual endeavor is Koran study and that’s what the high IQ people get forced into
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This must be what drives the Imams mad! A truly intelligent person cannot possibly believe the garbage they must spout but they are afraid to say otherwise for fear of being stoned to death or otherwise hideously butchered. It must be a terrible way to live. I liken it in many ways to the liberal, abortion promoting, global warming spouting crowd in this country. A person must go mad, they cannot believe this stuff and maintain sanity.
As always your perspective is great to read.
bump
We used to refer to these cultures as "primitive", but I guess thats too un-PC, nowadays.
If it werent for oil, these people would be primarily camel-oriented sand nomads and subsistence farmers. Its a shame the way God distributes natural resources.
So do Americans! Read and chuckle.
http://noiri.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-democrats-spin-facts-to-hide.html
The title should read “muslims” not Arabs.
Pakis are not arabs, indonesians are not arabs, American muslims are for the most part not arabs. Chechnya terrorists are not arabs - they are muslims - and so on.
Many Arabs are Christians in fact.
No it’s a shame the way we allow crooks to run our country. We don’t have to rely on the Middle East for energy. The US dwarfs the respective Middle East countries in energy ressources, yet we are UNWILLING to go for it.
“Many Pakistanis now believe that...”
Most muslims believe whatever they are told to believe. The culture that goes with that ideology weeds out independent thinkers at the earliest possible age.
Sounds like the Middle East is a highly fertile field for Scientology!
This isn't a thread about the typical demoncrat voter??
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