Does Muslim World hate the West?


Buongiorno specie al mio preferito!

A few years ago, I was doing some business in Bangladesh as a Westerner. Dhaka, Chittagong. I was dealing with educated Muslim naval officers. My hosts treated me warmly, kindly, and took excellent care of me during my visits. Although Bangladesh is not technically an Islamic Peoples Republic and has a nominal secular civil government, it is in fact a defacto Islamic Peoples Republic; there is no mistaking who is running that nation, as is regularly declared via the throwing of Hartals--national religious strikes--for any reason whatsoever, and whose primary reason for being is to declare the political supremacy of the local theocracy. During one of these visits, I had the opportunity to hide out during one of these Hartals so as not to be seen in the streets as a Westerner doing business during a Hartal and possibly killed. You see, during a Hartal, everything is shut down, from power to taxis to rickshaw pullers. Sadly, because during a Hartal is the best time for struggling rickshaw pullers to compete with taxis, some try, and the local papers carry the tally the next day of how many of them and their passengers were murdered on the streets by religious gangs/thugs who enforce the Hartal, despite the many pleas from civil authorities to 'modern up' already. My hosts, the Bangladesh Navy and their normally bayoneted Enfield wielding escorts, knew to take a 'bye' during a Hartal, and so, advised me to hide out in the 'Westerner hotel' (who could find me there?) until the craziness was over. And so, on this occasion, I did, in the dark and the damp and the heat and the stink, for the prescribed 24 hours. The cause of this particular Hartal was a poster that had been published by an Israeli artist that was critical of one of the Mullahs. Boy, did Bangladesh ever show her with this display of national masochism. That will teach her to be critical of Mullahs and their teachings, and by teach her, I mean, if she even knew this occurred. But, as I said, not the point. The point of these Hartals is to occasionally show the civil authorities who is actually running the nation.

The passing of this event and the subsequent discussions gave me the opportunity to ask of my hosts, so I did: "Why does the Muslim world hate the West?"

I was corrected by my hosts. "The Muslim world does not hate the West. The Muslim world fears and loathes the West. We are taught from an early age that the West is lead by America, and the American government is officially, in writing, a Godless thing. The most powerful nation on earth is thus led by no morality, and is a thing to be feared and loathed."

I asked if they thought I was a Godless soul, unguided by morality, and they laughed politely and said, "No, we understand the difference between the American people and the government they elect. It is your government that is Godless thing, it is your government that wields power unguided by the morality of God."

Their only concern with me personally, as 'president' of a western firm that they were doing business with was that I had only one wife, but I somewhat made up for that deficit in their eyes by having two sons.

I was, and still am, somewhat taken aback by their observation, which is based in fact. They are not telling lies about us, but like all bloody complicated messes, the truth is a little twisted. I could not tell them they were wrong, because in fact, we put it in writing, proudly, as our very 1st Amendment.

But, we get our 1st Amendment. Our educational system does a great job of explaining to us exactly why it is key to the concept of our religious freedom which true enough includes but is not defined exclusively by freedom from religion. Of course, our education is in the context of a secular, non-theocratic nation, while their education is in the context of a defacto if not in fact theocracy. If that is too complex a description, then better said this way: the local Old Men in Robes at the top of the local heap are keen on clinging to their gig, and correctly perceive the competing idea of America as a threat to their political futures. They have read our first Amendment, they have decades ago watched us go to the moon and open up Disneyworlds and so on, and have correctly concluded long ago, "It is them or us."

When seen in that light, it is little wonder that the local Old Men in Robes are not singing the praises of our 1st Amendment, nor instructing their school children what a wonderful idea 'constitutionally limited democratic secular republics' are.

Of course, we in the West don't see it that way. We don't see this struggle as "It is them or us." And, why should we? We are perfectly happy with The Old Men in Robes running places like Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even oil rich Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. We barely even skip a capuccino sipping beat when Saudi Arabian shieks send pocket change to tsunami ravaged Malaysia, while the West sends its billions to aid Muslims. Is the fact that places like Bangladesh are struggling in poverty and squalor, sitting there on that flood plain at the exit of India's sewage disposal system--I mean, the Ganges River delta--any threat to the endless party we are trying to throw? We don't blame our political leaders for their struggles. But, neither do we control the political/educational scene in countries like that, and guess who does? The local political leaders/Old Men in Robes who would otherwise be taking the heat for all the strife and struggle. And, guess who they are blaming? The Great Satan. And, guess who is winning that PR war? The Old Men In Robes who have correctly perceived, in their context, "It is them or us."

Do we help them with their PR campaign to blame their failures on us? Every way possible. We claim to understand all the parts of our 1st Amendment, including the bit we love to abuse like adolescents, the part guaranteeing Free Speech. In so tolerating adolescence as a cost of freedom, we know to just turn the channel when the kids get a little childishly obnoxious. But, the Old Men in Robes are given an infinite supply of "See what these fools do with their precious freedom?" to feed their propaganda war, which is again primed with not lies, but incomplete truths, when our 'freedoms' are characterized only by their worst abuses, in the name of keeping ignorant people ignorant and at bay. When we let fly into the eather and snicker, we have no idea how that is perceived and abused in other seething political contexts. That emotion serves mainly nihilistic urges to destroy that which we did not make.

A related anecdote. While in Bangladesh, I had the chance to use the services of a local business/store front. They were diversified. From a dirt floor shop with a blanket for a door, they sold rotted fruit, ancient Soviet era electronics, and access to a phone, fax, Windows95/desktop computer, complete with modem and internet access. I was concious of the opportunity, "What do folks in Bangladesh look for when they plop down their Taka and are given access to the world community's on-line library of everything?" I took a quick look at the browser cache/history, and sure enough, it was "XXX' this and 'SLUT' that as far as the eye could see. Oh, well. Folks everywhere are the same, it turns out. On average, we are average.

Are we really ready to compromise on our 1st Amendment, in the name of addressing the 'fundamental issues' that are driving the current crap fight, so as to not be seen as a threat to the gigs of the Old Men in Robes? Because, as much as we would like to ride this tiger for our own petty political agendas, the 'fundamental issues' driving this come down to the West's continuing willingness to be seen only bleeding from the a$$ on CNN in the name of Old Men in Robes clinging to their Dark Ages gig.

Speaking of the Left in America, they are playing an odd game these days. I'm not talking about the 'loyal left', but the less and less fringe radical left that is practicing 'revolution by proxy.' It's as if they think they can ride the current geopolitical struggle like a tiger to 'change' in America, and get off the nice tiger a kitchen fire short of Sharia Law. It could just be the desperate death throes of an often failed political paradigm, playing 'nothing left to lose.' Or, they truly could be idiots. Wild assertion to follow: if 99% of the soft advocates of 'change' in America could spend just 15 minutes in a place like Bangladesh, a place desperately trying to attract capitalism, by the way, I think the Big Headed Puppet Parades in America would be shut down for good. But, ain't going to happen, so we'll just let History happen.

A little insight into what life is like in the Dark Ages. There is only one traffic law in Bangladesh, and it is followed religiously: biggest vehicle wins. The primary traffic law is governed by 'physics.' This means, deuce-and-a-halves drive where they will, turn when and where they want, and all smaller vehicles must avoid them. This means, light trucks only need to look out for deuce-and-a-halves. This means, autos only need to look out for light trucks and deuce-and-a-halves. And, so on, to Cushman three wheelers and finally to rickshaw drivers, who must avoid everything except possibly other rickshaws. It is a regular occurrence when driving through the streets to see rickshaws flying end over end through space. When this happens, the crowd descends upon the heap and drags the bodies to the side of the road, berating them for creating a traffic disturbance. As you drive through the streets of Dhaka or Chittagong, you can't help but notice the large number of single and double amputees along the side of the road. When I first saw them, I asked my host if they were victims of some conflict, and he said, "No, they are former rickshaw drivers." In this and many other ways, the message that life is cheap is found on the streets of Bangladesh, and The Great Satan is not to blame for that. But, that is an insight into the nature of those ruled by Old Men in Robes who have concluded, when regarding the West, "It is them or us."

And yet, it was educated, wealthy Muslims who sent their children off to Western Universities to be radicalized. They returned to the local dusty land of the local prophets with their western radicalization, mixed it with some dark ages fundamentalism, and came up with a new formula for 'global change.' An odd confluence of ultimately incompatible left wing radical interests smell blood in the water, and actually believe the West is teetering on the brink of 'doable,' and the Old Men in Robes are using them all to their political advantage. Meanwhile, the West with few but glaring exceptions barely takes any of this seriously, and is still averting the eyes, even after the Bhutto assasination.

The Old Men in Robes have correctly concluded, "It is them or us." Will the West respond appropriately and defend its right to organize under a 1st Amendment without bleeding from the a$$ for the CNN cameras? Or will be slow to respond? Are we infested with enough nihilistic self-loathing that we are indefensible? The radicals hope so.

Reguarda,
Frediano