Two decades ago journalist David Lamb travelled throughout the Middle East. There was then (and still is today) so much prejudice against Islam. All anyone cared about was all the nasty rhetoric of Nasser and Arafat and, later, the Ayatollah Khomeini. Those were days when the radicals were trying to outdo each other in their denunciations of the "Zionists" (Israel) and the "Crusaders" (America). They said all kinds of bizarre things, even if there were reasons for their anger. Perhaps you recall some of the vitriol. America was the Great Satan, they would defeat the wicked West, they would "win the baby war." They would defeat us by the "Valor of their Women" (have more babies). They would push the Zionist intruders INTO THE SEA.
Yet instead of winning friends, the extreme rhetoric actually served to alienate the outside world. Now, in 2006, during the Abu Dubai controversy, the ports deal which the Bush administration lobbied for, a vast majority of Americans reacted with consternation and disbelief. Possibly his own Republican Party was the most surprised and opposed. I am sure there is some truth to the Bush argument we need to reach out to our friends in the Islamic and Arab worlds.
Sharia, the Koranic system of justice, sounds shocking to Western ears. Not to excuse our medieval excesses in Europe, but we are grateful for the progress of Western civilization, thankful that even in its sternest authoritarianism, our religious and monarchical or inquisition past gradually yielded to milder methods of administering authority and maintaining justice. How grateful we are for the freedom of conscience that grew from our Occidental heritage.
Even the stern Sharia "justice" -- apparently has two sides. David Lamb says that for all the harshness, it seems to work. Yes, there have been occasional, but very rare, amputations. And there are floggings -- perhaps fairly common. Rolf B. Miller made a web site, actually several of them, detailing recent cases of floggings in Islamic countries. Apparently there have been some which have been rather extreme or severe by western standards. While Numeiri was in power in Sudan, his regime was very cruel. And the same was clearly true of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
But both those two extreme regimes are GONE.
David Lamb says that "Saudi Arabia is perhaps the safest, most-crime free place in the world." You can leave your car unlocked, you don't have to worry about looking over your shoulder walking down an unlit street at night.
Prison sentences are much, much shorter, there is practically no violence within prisons. But in sentencing, whippings or floggings are rather common. Death penalty cases are rare, because the King himself must approve any capital punishment.
Our western culture has travelled a different path than the Middle East. We have "decided" (especially since the Enlightenment) that religion and the Bible and believism are outmoded, that tradition is a negative word, and in contemporary expertise, even that spanking is abuse. In the process, we have hoped we were right. We outlawed much of medieval brutality, demanded no more cruel or unusual punishments, banned pillories and stocks and the whipping post. We have scorned vigilante justice and night-riding posses. We have even begun arresting parents who are too strict with their kids. Most of us by and large approve of these advances, even if we sometimes wonder.
But prison sentences in almost all states have gotten longer and longer and longer.
and in the meantime ....
Crime, in big cities and even smaller ones, has gotten worse ... and worse!
To the perceptive types who seek the long-view, God's wrath looks imminent.
It can't hurt us to humble ourselves enough to consider something else.
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"Muslims are the only ethnic group about whom it is still acceptible to be racist in America. We have replaced blacks in that regard." After any act of Islamic violence makes the headlines, Muslim students in the USA are insulted and sometimes mugged or otherwise assaulted in some way. [Jan Goodwin. Price of Honor] |
"At one point in time, Islam was a powerful force for change, expanding throughout the world and winning the hearts of the multitudes. Historians tell us that Islamic civilization was the richest and most advanced civilization in the world during the early Middle Ages, particularly in the mid-eighth through the mid-eleventh centuries, and perhaps reached its peak during the ninth century. In comparison, the culture of Europe crept far behind. But gradually the glory faded, and Islamic civilization stagnated and ultimately declined. There were many causes for this." [From Taslima Nasrin's comments on Islamic Fundamentalism]
Perez Zagorin asserts: "Of all the great world religions past or present, Christianity has been by far the most intolerant. This statement may come as a shock, but it is nevertheless true. " For moreRecommended reading: