Re: Fwd: America and the Middle East: Murder in Libya | The Economist
Posted by
Douglas Roberts-2 on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Fwd-America-and-the-Middle-East-Murder-in-Libya-The-Economist-tp7580459p7580494.html
One semi-final note from me about culture and religion: I lived in Libya for a year in 1976 when I was a consultant to Occidental Petroleum. I traveled extensively between Tripoli, Benghazi, and several points about 900 miles southeast of Tripoli in the northern tip of the Sahara during that year. I quickly learned that the culture of the Arabic half of Libya (as compared to the Berber Bedouin culture that comprises the eastern half of the country) is dominated by the Islamic religion. You cannot separate them. Religion is interwoven into every aspect of their culture. Any attempt to exclude the impact of religion on their culture will fail.
--Doug
On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 10:24 AM, Douglas Roberts
<[hidden email]> wrote:
Let's see if I understand you correctly, Owen.
There are a bunch of fundamentalist Islamists all up in arms shouting "Allahu Akhbar" whilst burning down our embassies and killing our diplomats because there is a film out that is derogatory of the Muslim religion.
And this is not about religion?
I don't see it.
Or you don't see it.
What I do see is that there is one very large disconnect on this particular issue.
--Doug
On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 10:17 AM, Owen Densmore
<[hidden email]> wrote:
I do not believe this to be a religious issue at all. The question is of groups and institutions.
When a faction of a group becomes apparently insane, do we not expect the entire group, its leaders and majority, to speak up and to mend?
When civil rights were an issue in the south, many of us (I was at Georgia Tech) spoke up, and indeed many churches of all stripes did so. Many NRA members also speak up about the extreme position the organization takes. Examples abound. And yes, I consider this a Complexity domain, much like Miller's Applause model.
Isn't this possibly a cultural issue? Possibly regional? The largest Muslim population is not Libya or Egypt or even all of the middle east, its Indonesia. They do not appear to have this issue.
So my question stands as Kofi stated:
"Where are the leaders? Where is the Majority? Nobody speaks up."
NOT the religious leaders but the leaders of the culture in which the religion lies.
And Hussein, forgive me, but your inward religious stance has nothing to do with speaking out against injustice. It is not a religious issue, but a civic, cultural one.
-- Owen
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