Strange bedfellows
Traditional Islam is only vaguely related to what we see happening here. It isn't so much the rebirth of the Islamic caliphate as a rebirth of fascism in the mideast and elsewhere with an Islamic face on it. All of the same type of thinking that Hitler, and Mussolini and Stalin put forth in rejecting liberal civilization are here as well. Islamism is a reaction to the "isms" of the twentieth century. IN a modern world where a version of Capitalism has dominated Marxist states in a number of ways, the Islamist rejects modern society while utilizing the tools of that society. Islamic nuclear weapons. Islamic genetic engineering. Islamic science, which is all stolen from Christian civilization, accepted as truth for it's power, and Christian ideals altered by the enlightenment.
There are a number of different types of posters here on bnet who see the Iraq war in different ways. The one thing that almost every supporter of the "resistance" in Iraq has in common is that they aren't really quite sure what they are FOR, but they know what they are against, which is anything the US does, including defending herself.
There are the Islamofascists who openly call for global domination under an Islamic Caliphate, where even Shiites are infidels, who would exterminate whole civilizations and who cloak their language in heartfelt, soulful language that would make even apparently sane people sign on. The astonishing beauty and power of Islam, the depth of the honor and wisdom found there is coopted by these folks. And when one sees the careless manner in which the US conducts itself, it really isn't that hard to see why undeducated, illiterate people who only know what they are told by others would believe it. They really have so much in common with American fundamentalists; they hate the separation of church and state, believe homosexuals are evil, believe in modesty and moderation in appetites and desires.
But it is the educated Islamists here that are fascinating and mirror-images of the educated fundamentalists in America who now wish to pack the courts and coopt the political system.
But by far the most fascinating thing of all is the apparent coalition of anti-secular, anti-liberal, anti-homosexual and anti-woman Islamofascists with secular liberal pro-homosexual feminists. The former doesn't hate the concept of empire, but the idea that there is no Islamic empire. The other believes that the former is anti-imperialist, not realizing that under such an empire they would very quickly become the next victims of Islamofascism.
It is against the backdrop of this that we see western liberals having a romantic love affair with these cults of suicide and death. For a long time they have been making excuses for the Palestinians. Should we be surprised when the victims become American, British, or Nepalese that the excuse continue? We, as liberals, cannot countenance the possibility that there aren't rational reasons for why people do things. Isn't it understandable that oppression in Palestine would lead to butchery in Haifa? Aren't the chickens coming home to roost?
stuckinsamsara
9/21/2005 12:55 PM 10 out of 10
It is easy to see, given the intransigence of the US, why people might believe that, especially if that is the lense through which reality is viewed by them. There are two fantasies here meeting each other; one in which America is a prop in an elaborate fantasy about the return of Saladin aka Bin Laden, and the other in which the poster is a freedom-fighter a la Che Guevara who is intent upon smashing imperialism while the innocent victims of it are crushed under her heel. It is a romantic, appealing fantasy, particularly for those whose lives appear devoid of meaning in a hostile and impersonal world where it is easy to find a scapegoat and blame them for everything under the sun. The arab becomes a scapegoat for Americans, Americans become a scapegoat for Arabs. An endless cycle perpetuated by both polar extremes.
On one hand we have a vastly oversimplified conspiracist theory of imperialism in which terrorists, despite what they say and do for all to see, are still defended by shrill hysterical revisionists clinging to their dogma. On the other hand, we have liberal internationalists like me who believe that in this shrinking world, there will be no safe place for us to isolate ourselves from this vast totalitarian movement afoot yet aware of how easy it is for a nation like the US to go to far.beliefnet
There are a number of different types of posters here on bnet who see the Iraq war in different ways. The one thing that almost every supporter of the "resistance" in Iraq has in common is that they aren't really quite sure what they are FOR, but they know what they are against, which is anything the US does, including defending herself.
There are the Islamofascists who openly call for global domination under an Islamic Caliphate, where even Shiites are infidels, who would exterminate whole civilizations and who cloak their language in heartfelt, soulful language that would make even apparently sane people sign on. The astonishing beauty and power of Islam, the depth of the honor and wisdom found there is coopted by these folks. And when one sees the careless manner in which the US conducts itself, it really isn't that hard to see why undeducated, illiterate people who only know what they are told by others would believe it. They really have so much in common with American fundamentalists; they hate the separation of church and state, believe homosexuals are evil, believe in modesty and moderation in appetites and desires.
But it is the educated Islamists here that are fascinating and mirror-images of the educated fundamentalists in America who now wish to pack the courts and coopt the political system.
But by far the most fascinating thing of all is the apparent coalition of anti-secular, anti-liberal, anti-homosexual and anti-woman Islamofascists with secular liberal pro-homosexual feminists. The former doesn't hate the concept of empire, but the idea that there is no Islamic empire. The other believes that the former is anti-imperialist, not realizing that under such an empire they would very quickly become the next victims of Islamofascism.
It is against the backdrop of this that we see western liberals having a romantic love affair with these cults of suicide and death. For a long time they have been making excuses for the Palestinians. Should we be surprised when the victims become American, British, or Nepalese that the excuse continue? We, as liberals, cannot countenance the possibility that there aren't rational reasons for why people do things. Isn't it understandable that oppression in Palestine would lead to butchery in Haifa? Aren't the chickens coming home to roost?
stuckinsamsara
9/21/2005 12:55 PM 10 out of 10
It is easy to see, given the intransigence of the US, why people might believe that, especially if that is the lense through which reality is viewed by them. There are two fantasies here meeting each other; one in which America is a prop in an elaborate fantasy about the return of Saladin aka Bin Laden, and the other in which the poster is a freedom-fighter a la Che Guevara who is intent upon smashing imperialism while the innocent victims of it are crushed under her heel. It is a romantic, appealing fantasy, particularly for those whose lives appear devoid of meaning in a hostile and impersonal world where it is easy to find a scapegoat and blame them for everything under the sun. The arab becomes a scapegoat for Americans, Americans become a scapegoat for Arabs. An endless cycle perpetuated by both polar extremes.
On one hand we have a vastly oversimplified conspiracist theory of imperialism in which terrorists, despite what they say and do for all to see, are still defended by shrill hysterical revisionists clinging to their dogma. On the other hand, we have liberal internationalists like me who believe that in this shrinking world, there will be no safe place for us to isolate ourselves from this vast totalitarian movement afoot yet aware of how easy it is for a nation like the US to go to far.beliefnet
posted by Robert Smith at 10:05 AM
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