Sunday, August 22, 2004

Posted here Sunday, August 22, 2004 at 5:16:04 PM       The appeal of Islam     The Middle East was, an ancient times, say from 4500 BC until the time of Christ, a world in conflict of great empires. In coping with this mess religious salvation played a large role.    For the great empires, including Egypt, the city and its people were seen as a microcosm of the universe and the leaders took the view that to upset the city, say by revolution, was to destroy the harmony of the universe.   The Hebrews walked out of Egypt, left of the empire, and declared that the contract was not between the cosmos and the empire, but between god and the tribe. In the evolution in the last 500 years before Christ the Hebrews sought their own power in the flux of empires. But the prophets protested the loss of humanity in this pursuit.   In the alienation of especially country people from this move of the tribe toward power, Jesus rewrote the contract as being between god and the individual, not god and the tribe. This appeal to being a good person and finding salvation amongst the nasty flux of empires had broad appeal and Christianity spread widely in the Middle East.   While this was happening the Roman empire fell apart and in its last years, looking for a new legitimacy, embraced Christianity as the official state religion. The result was that many of the followers found themselves once again on the outside of the empire and abandoned to economic and military necessities of others. Islam arose in this context, giving a spiritual vision and hope for community justice to those marginalized by the large forces of the time.   The rising power of Islam was met by the crusades with the result being a dividing line between Europe and the Middle East. These two societies, both basically decent, developed hatred towards each other and borrowed each other's negative views of the other.   A new wave of islamic success led to the ottoman empire, once again organizing the Islamic world uncomfortably under the control of Turkey. This did not fall apart till world war one and the Middle East was carved up for the benefit of colonial powers which hired local strongman to maintain control and get oil.   For the remainder of the twentieth century Islam has continued to be attractive to those marginalized by colonialism, or that new variant called globalization. But globalization is really a new way of hiring local elites to run economies that benefit the old powers.   What is important to see is that that the democracy and free markets that America is claiming to represent are not either democracy nore free markets n the ideal sense. They are ways of organizing people to get them to return existing elites to power through voting and to organize local markets that benefit local elites and their customers in the developed world.   Islam continues to hold out an ethical promise for those who, through marginalization, have neither economic power nor a viable culture. Saudi Arabia shows this clearly, where money in the extreme was combined with a shallow market culture of servants from the Philippines and a Mercedes-Benz.   So the crux is that what the U.S. seems to be offering at this moment in history is in fact quite different from what Islam is offering. Islam can be corrupt and the west could be more democratic with more justice. But we will miss the essence of the struggle if we think that the oppressed people of the Middle East We'll be attracted to the current American form of democracy and markets.   In all humility, we must also recognize two key facts.   First, that the problems in the Middle East are very much the result of western policies, Such as the support of dictators, and our willingness to use them, such as we did in Afghanistan, for our own Cold War interests. The details of this history are much better known in the Middle East than they are to almost all westerners and we seem to them very ignorant by comparison.   Second, that overall American policy Is bankrupting the country and we are headed for a painful correction. The world sees this and does not trust us. Moreover, We no longer have the resources to continue on our current economic and military paths.   We need to be much smarter about who we are, about who the middle east is, and how human beings think.  The ability to kill does not make a winner but creating hope and building a culture Does. And, recall that folks like Fukuyama are wrong to think that america represents democracy and  viable markets. It represents a form of democracy and markets, and one without full approval or appeal, even to our own citizens. ********