This blogpost was written after reading this article:
"Sentenced to death for a sip of water"
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/sentenced_to_death_for_sip_of_water_7zwT2vBrUGqhDzasfQxkKK
I learned about that from Fakher Haddoui.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102978975077667101095/posts/M57vbW8xEzz
Below are my thoughts:
In school, I was basically taught that all cultures are equal (except for Western cultures which are the only selfish ones in the world).
What I've come to realize is that while there have been evil and great people scattered around the world for ages, not all cultures are equal, and on top of that - cue the racism claims - Western culture in general is (and has been at least since the year 1700) much closer to the top of the rankings than the bottom. (For the record, the major cultures - albeit minorities in their own countries - that I respect the most are various "Eastern" philosophies which don't dispute science and also believe in ahimsa.)
In school (and even now among the vast majority of Americans), things like Martin Luther King's marches got complete center stage. Jim Crow laws were the most evil laws devised by man.
Fighting Jim Crow was so important! But here's the thing. Overcoming American Jim Crow laws and the fall of European Imperialism gave Western liberals their "Francis Fukuyama moment". By that, I mean that they declared "the End of History". After all, Western culture was the most evil culture that ever existed, and it finally righted itself, so the only thing now was to make sure that it didn't go back to the way things were before. This view was and is extremely myopic, because guess what - there are injustices far in excess of any Jim Crow laws in other countries. I have referred to these cultures (though not everyone surrounded and affected by them) as barbaric, because they are barbaric. I don't see any reason to change my language. The only reason to change my language would be to prove that I'm not a cultural chauvinist. But I AM a cultural chauvinist...not because I unquestioningly accept the superiority of the culture that surrounds me (which in fact is not even a Western culture) but because I've used evidence to come to that conclusion.
Here's the thing. Westerners over the past 500 years have generally been rich, and they've liked to write nonfiction. Because they've been rich, they've gained power which nearly every culture in history seeks but often cannot attain. And because they've liked to write nonfiction, we hear about the gruesome and unfair things that were committed by (some of) them during their time in power.
Islam is another beast all together. Islamic cultures (especially those not fueled by oil exports) have not been historically as rich (and thus powerful) as Western cultures over the past few hundred years, and they have never much liked writing nonfiction.
Where are all of the books detailing the Islamic slave trade? After all, the Islamic slave trade started before and ended after the European slave trade. More people were traded, and more people died. Many slaves going to the Middle East were sold for the sole reason of being a rape toy (whereas in the West, raping slaves was probably frequent but still looked down upon even if nothing was done to combat it, kind of like the situation of priests raping children). I'm not saying that the European slave trade wasn't bad. Far from it. It's just like comparing the Western and Eastern Fronts of the European theater of World War II. The Nazi-Soviet War was horrific, but that is not saying that the Nazi-British war was serene.
If you read any writing coming from Muslims in an Islamic country, it will inevitably say that slaves were treated as part of the family or people just loved being slaves, or something like that. (Similar to what many Christians do when defending the slavery of the Bible.) In other words, there is not really any concept of "nonfiction". There is no semblance of scientific striving for the truth. Words are only used to persuade, not to recount. Lies are fine if they help your cause. If you believe them yourself, so much the better.
Because of this, people come away with the skewed view that Western culture has been so much worse than the other cultures of the world. While Western slaves were pathetic beings who were dominated by others, Islamic kingdoms had happy slaves who were treated as a part of the family and loved gratifying their masters' sexual desires. While Western Imperialism was an evil power play, Islamic Imperialism was a wave of happiness and truth readily accepted by the population which was taken over (of course, without the sword). Of course, the Islamic story is a complete fabrication and a horrible way to sully the (non-)memories of those who suffered and died under their culture, but it's a happier and more uplifting story, and the best part is, the genocidal slave holders don't have to take any accountability and neither does the culture that holds them up as heroes and prophets.
The sad fact is that horrible things are still happening across the world, and particularly in conservative Islamic countries, but Western Liberals by and large don't dare to speak up against these atrocities. In fact, not only don't they dare, but they are against it. See, speaking out against another culture is RACISM, pure and simple. The only culture you are allowed to rally against is your own. To do otherwise makes you a villain. So even if people are being killed and otherwise persecuted to an extent which far surpasses Jim Crow, you cannot make a stink about it. All cultures are equal, but all non-Western cultures are more equal...and thus, you are only able to talk about them in glowing terms.
Notwithstanding some articles written about a small selection of events which probably happen a thousand times more frequently than reported, there has been a general silence in the West, especially among liberals. This is not helpful at all to those who are being persecuted around the world.
I am usually very closely allied with the "liberal" cause. I'm a vegetarian. I am an atheist. I am for equal civil rights for all races, genders, and sexual orientations.
What I find surprising is that many liberals will go ballistic if they see a GMO food, but will say nothing (or revel in the fact) when they see halal foods show up at the supermarket. They will defend the ban on non-Muslims from even being able to set foot in Mecca (after all, it's their culture...who are we to intrude?) while shaming all those who suggest that maybe we should merely limit immigration from places where radicalism runs amok. They will blog and tweet their undying anger when someone in the West votes against a gay marriage bill, but will zip their lips when they see pictures of gay people hanging from the gallows in the Middle East.
They will talk about the evil of white racists during the Jim Crow days, but will give Muslim intolerance (which is often even more vile) a free pass. And this brings me to the article I read. It is about a Christian woman in Pakistan who is set to be HANGED because she DARED TO DRINK FROM A WELL WHICH MUSLIMS USED. Again, here is the link:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/sentenced_to_death_for_sip_of_water_7zwT2vBrUGqhDzasfQxkKK
If you are a real liberal, you should be OUTRAGED. You should SPEAK OUT. DO NOT BE SILENT!
"Sentenced to death for a sip of water"
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/sentenced_to_death_for_sip_of_water_7zwT2vBrUGqhDzasfQxkKK
I learned about that from Fakher Haddoui.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102978975077667101095/posts/M57vbW8xEzz
Below are my thoughts:
In school, I was basically taught that all cultures are equal (except for Western cultures which are the only selfish ones in the world).
What I've come to realize is that while there have been evil and great people scattered around the world for ages, not all cultures are equal, and on top of that - cue the racism claims - Western culture in general is (and has been at least since the year 1700) much closer to the top of the rankings than the bottom. (For the record, the major cultures - albeit minorities in their own countries - that I respect the most are various "Eastern" philosophies which don't dispute science and also believe in ahimsa.)
In school (and even now among the vast majority of Americans), things like Martin Luther King's marches got complete center stage. Jim Crow laws were the most evil laws devised by man.
Fighting Jim Crow was so important! But here's the thing. Overcoming American Jim Crow laws and the fall of European Imperialism gave Western liberals their "Francis Fukuyama moment". By that, I mean that they declared "the End of History". After all, Western culture was the most evil culture that ever existed, and it finally righted itself, so the only thing now was to make sure that it didn't go back to the way things were before. This view was and is extremely myopic, because guess what - there are injustices far in excess of any Jim Crow laws in other countries. I have referred to these cultures (though not everyone surrounded and affected by them) as barbaric, because they are barbaric. I don't see any reason to change my language. The only reason to change my language would be to prove that I'm not a cultural chauvinist. But I AM a cultural chauvinist...not because I unquestioningly accept the superiority of the culture that surrounds me (which in fact is not even a Western culture) but because I've used evidence to come to that conclusion.
Here's the thing. Westerners over the past 500 years have generally been rich, and they've liked to write nonfiction. Because they've been rich, they've gained power which nearly every culture in history seeks but often cannot attain. And because they've liked to write nonfiction, we hear about the gruesome and unfair things that were committed by (some of) them during their time in power.
Islam is another beast all together. Islamic cultures (especially those not fueled by oil exports) have not been historically as rich (and thus powerful) as Western cultures over the past few hundred years, and they have never much liked writing nonfiction.
Where are all of the books detailing the Islamic slave trade? After all, the Islamic slave trade started before and ended after the European slave trade. More people were traded, and more people died. Many slaves going to the Middle East were sold for the sole reason of being a rape toy (whereas in the West, raping slaves was probably frequent but still looked down upon even if nothing was done to combat it, kind of like the situation of priests raping children). I'm not saying that the European slave trade wasn't bad. Far from it. It's just like comparing the Western and Eastern Fronts of the European theater of World War II. The Nazi-Soviet War was horrific, but that is not saying that the Nazi-British war was serene.
If you read any writing coming from Muslims in an Islamic country, it will inevitably say that slaves were treated as part of the family or people just loved being slaves, or something like that. (Similar to what many Christians do when defending the slavery of the Bible.) In other words, there is not really any concept of "nonfiction". There is no semblance of scientific striving for the truth. Words are only used to persuade, not to recount. Lies are fine if they help your cause. If you believe them yourself, so much the better.
Because of this, people come away with the skewed view that Western culture has been so much worse than the other cultures of the world. While Western slaves were pathetic beings who were dominated by others, Islamic kingdoms had happy slaves who were treated as a part of the family and loved gratifying their masters' sexual desires. While Western Imperialism was an evil power play, Islamic Imperialism was a wave of happiness and truth readily accepted by the population which was taken over (of course, without the sword). Of course, the Islamic story is a complete fabrication and a horrible way to sully the (non-)memories of those who suffered and died under their culture, but it's a happier and more uplifting story, and the best part is, the genocidal slave holders don't have to take any accountability and neither does the culture that holds them up as heroes and prophets.
The sad fact is that horrible things are still happening across the world, and particularly in conservative Islamic countries, but Western Liberals by and large don't dare to speak up against these atrocities. In fact, not only don't they dare, but they are against it. See, speaking out against another culture is RACISM, pure and simple. The only culture you are allowed to rally against is your own. To do otherwise makes you a villain. So even if people are being killed and otherwise persecuted to an extent which far surpasses Jim Crow, you cannot make a stink about it. All cultures are equal, but all non-Western cultures are more equal...and thus, you are only able to talk about them in glowing terms.
Notwithstanding some articles written about a small selection of events which probably happen a thousand times more frequently than reported, there has been a general silence in the West, especially among liberals. This is not helpful at all to those who are being persecuted around the world.
I am usually very closely allied with the "liberal" cause. I'm a vegetarian. I am an atheist. I am for equal civil rights for all races, genders, and sexual orientations.
What I find surprising is that many liberals will go ballistic if they see a GMO food, but will say nothing (or revel in the fact) when they see halal foods show up at the supermarket. They will defend the ban on non-Muslims from even being able to set foot in Mecca (after all, it's their culture...who are we to intrude?) while shaming all those who suggest that maybe we should merely limit immigration from places where radicalism runs amok. They will blog and tweet their undying anger when someone in the West votes against a gay marriage bill, but will zip their lips when they see pictures of gay people hanging from the gallows in the Middle East.
They will talk about the evil of white racists during the Jim Crow days, but will give Muslim intolerance (which is often even more vile) a free pass. And this brings me to the article I read. It is about a Christian woman in Pakistan who is set to be HANGED because she DARED TO DRINK FROM A WELL WHICH MUSLIMS USED. Again, here is the link:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/sentenced_to_death_for_sip_of_water_7zwT2vBrUGqhDzasfQxkKK
If you are a real liberal, you should be OUTRAGED. You should SPEAK OUT. DO NOT BE SILENT!
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