Clash of Civilizations

In the four days since my last posting, there have been three news stories from the Arab/Muslim world that clearly demonstrate the complete lack of common ground we in the West have with their societies. Many people find the concept of a "clash of civilizations" to be offensive, but as these news items demonstrate, the term is only inappropriate in that it elevates these dysfunctional states to the level of "civilization," when in fact they are as uncivilized as the Nazis were.

Cases in point:

In Egypt, people with HIV are being arrested and forcibly put into "special clinics." Furthermore, in the typical Islamic treatment of homosexuals, "four men were convicted in mid-January of 'habitual practice of debauchery,' a term used in the Egyptian legal system for consensual homosexual acts...Those men have been sentenced to one-year prison terms." Too bad for Egypt that they can't be like Iran, which according to President Ahmadinejad has no homosexuals, despite evidence that homosexuals are executed there.

A woman in Saudi Arabia is set to be executed for practicing witchcraft and performing supernatural acts. This places their backwards government at least 300 years behind the United States, to the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Part of the evidence against this poor Saudi woman is that "a man allegedly became impotent after being bewitched by" the woman. Unbelievable!



Also in Saudi Arabia, Valentine's Day was banned, as was the color red, on February 14, because the holiday was deemed "un-Islamic:"

"Buying, selling, wearing, or displaying anything red including red roses, clothes, wrapping paper, teddy bears and gift boxes were all illegal on this holiday for those in love. A few days prior to Valentine’s Day, flower shops and other stores were warned that they must remove all red items from their shelves...Government authorities let it be known that they were not going to tolerate any public displays of affection on February 14th. Though they claimed that Valentine’s Day promotes prohibited relations between unmarried men and women, public expressions of affection between married couples on that date was equally prohibited."

Despite Albert Brooks' attempt to find comedy in the Muslim world, the reality is that these are humorless, repressed, emotionally stunted societies, and that's largely the reason behind this clash of civilizations. That's not to say that there is something different in the nature of these people. Any religion followed in strict adherence to its ancient, tribal, desert ideology, traditions and laws is going to be soul-crushing. But Islam is alone in today's world in its being institutionalized in theocratic dictatorships. Any citizen of these countries who would prefer not to be ruled by lunatic dictates of the Koran have no choice but to restrict their objections to their own quiet thoughts.

Lucky for us, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are our allies. With friends like these, who needs enemies?