Heavy Cloak of Religious Dogma

Greetings from Sedona…

The Middle East is aglow with western fireworks and misplaced western hope.   This conclusion gelled in my mind while reading about China of all places.  It seems that during its heyday of close to two thousand years, the Chinese looked at their culture as not merely the center of civilization, but as the embodiment of civilization.  This is not a unique attitude, but it did have illuminating (for us) consequences resulting from its contentious contact with its nettlesome, nomadic neighbors to the north.

For many centuries the northern nomads would strike, rape, pillage and withdraw with awesome speed.  They were the first and only group uninterested in Chinese culture or civilization.  Other tribes to the south were easily assimilated by the expanding Chinese cultural empire.  The northern nomads viewed China as decadent and effeminate and wanted none of it.

The Chinese tried everything, including aggressively reaching out to trade with the nomads in ways that would materially improve their lifestyle.  The Chinese tried bribing Mongol leaders with lavish gifts; they sponsored trade fairs and more.  Still the nomads continued attacking and looting, maintaining their poverty and their culture.  To be sure, the Chinese tried offensive and brutal tactics as well – to no avail.

This should set off alarm bells to anyone learning of this history.  Like the Chinese, we believe that anyone getting to know us must like our way of life, even if they do not like us personally.  We have ample reason to believe this as western culture generally, and American culture in particular has successfully swept over most of the world – with the notable exception of Islam generally and the Middle East specifically.  Like the Mongol nomads, the people of the Middle East view our civilization and culture as decadent and effeminate.

While there are many factors that contribute to this conclusion, here we hone in on just one.  The average Joe Islam is horrified by the behavior of western women.  Worse, they cannot understand why any real man would allow such a thing.  Any notion of women as human beings with the same fundamental rights as men is an anathema at best, while blasphemy is a more apt description.

Educated Middle East Muslims are no less concerned.  Notwithstanding feminist fury over supposedly sexist phenomenon like the mythical glass ceiling, any cursory look at western culture, especially American culture, reveals a persistently powerful ascent of the female sex in all aspects of western society.  This strikes at the core of any culture, but especially the testosterone infused patriarchal Middle East Muslim culture.  Let’s call it sexism on steroids.

When we wrap all of this in a heavy cloak of religious dogma we have a toxic brew, that when mixed with global politics results in death on a massive scale exceeded only by the great global conflagration of the last century.  Every historical precedent of sectarian conflict is one of decades, if not centuries of death and destruction to the point of exhaustion.

Lest we Westerners smirk at the stupidity of it all, please keep in mind that we have religious tolerance only because we too consumed centuries in sectarian slaughter before the main adversaries finally gave up.  Even in recent times pockets like Northern Ireland remained as reminders to our bloody past.  In other words, no offer of riches or airtight argument will be rewarded in this colossal conflict of cultures.  Intellectual approaches did not work in the west and are unlikely to have an impact in the Middle East.  Perhaps the most depressing thing I think about these days is that I have no clue about what to do to prevent the coming cataclysm.

All the best to you all,

Stephen Reiss
[email protected]

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