Listening
to a radio presenter I genuinely admire trying to bat away the concepts
that were being presented by Muslim mothers regarding the Islamisation
of the Muslim youth, boys and girls which is arguably creating a
separate subsection to our already multi-layered society. This in
response to the news coverage of the three girls who appear to be on
their way to Syria.
I have written in the past of how I fear the strength of the faith identified in the Quran, a strength made complete by the rigour of prayer and custom. It is a faith which transcends national boundaries and binds its members in an awareness of a regime mentality which strictly subverts and rejects, at its core all other sub sets of human consciousness which lie outside "the faith". Only "we" know the true path to salvation and the rest of you are alien to us. I must add that it is not only the Muslim faith which have at their root this infallibility, most faith based concerns busy with saving mankind have a belief in their uniqueness.
The strength of this conviction makes for a powerful concoction of 'self'-belief (something hard to find in this chaotic world) for the individual believer. A belief in ones 'self', supported and amplified when it is counted and magnified by the other faithful, raises the spectre of 'self' sacrifice' as a positive thing.
This self sacrifice, at its extreme can be evidenced in the sacrificial killing, usually accompanied by ones own suicide which finds fulfilment in blowing up and killing the non-believer.
This outcome is proceeded by aligning ones self with a group of people who are so deeply focused on the Jihad, (the eternal effort, the struggle to win the fight for the Muslim cause) a group where the human bond of faith is greater than all other bonds. The bond of family, the bond of country, the bond of friendship, all can be put aside for this larger, all consuming, coming together of ancient scripture to provide the missing structure to ones life which leaves the humdrum modern lifestyle a very poor second.
No wonder the detached, disenfranchised youth (a youth we have cranked up with a sense of their own importance) fall under the spell of the Mullah with his repetition of the old old stories that speak to the faithful like "manna from heaven".
If the bond he feels for other Muslims (a religious bond like no other, promulgated by prayer and ritual in the Mosque) for the ones hurting in Palestine and Iraq and the well publicised West's involvement in both, then their resentment towards the West knows no bounds since the harm is seen as towards that of a brother or sister.
It's the millennium old problem, when Politics clashes with tradition, tribal affiliation and faith, especially when the poorly conceived political policies are driven by market economics, the instability left behind is a breeding ground for resentment. This resentment, funnelled by religious ideology can capture adherents even within ones own cosy environment at home. People who feel their true allegiance is not fulfilled within 'multiculturalism', with is many divergent standards but rather needs to align with something they feel is more substantial such as the local Mosque, and the focus and support of the congregation to make sense of a fundamentally corrupted world. Perhaps sadly, by introducing another corruption !!!
In Ataturk's secular domination of Turkey he saw a threat in the power of the Muslim religion and, in effect banned all outward manifestations of the religion knowing that these outward symbols were powerful in uniting the faith. His prohibition has been derided by many in the western world for with-holding from society, part of its cultural heritage, part of its cultural wholeness but this democratic persuasion to allow all views and social structures the space to foster their opinion is not reciprocated and would not be allowed if the boot were on the other foot.
The Saudi Arabian state is one example where tolerance is not valued and religious Shari law brooks no divergence from theocratic values.
I have written in the past of how I fear the strength of the faith identified in the Quran, a strength made complete by the rigour of prayer and custom. It is a faith which transcends national boundaries and binds its members in an awareness of a regime mentality which strictly subverts and rejects, at its core all other sub sets of human consciousness which lie outside "the faith". Only "we" know the true path to salvation and the rest of you are alien to us. I must add that it is not only the Muslim faith which have at their root this infallibility, most faith based concerns busy with saving mankind have a belief in their uniqueness.
The strength of this conviction makes for a powerful concoction of 'self'-belief (something hard to find in this chaotic world) for the individual believer. A belief in ones 'self', supported and amplified when it is counted and magnified by the other faithful, raises the spectre of 'self' sacrifice' as a positive thing.
This self sacrifice, at its extreme can be evidenced in the sacrificial killing, usually accompanied by ones own suicide which finds fulfilment in blowing up and killing the non-believer.
This outcome is proceeded by aligning ones self with a group of people who are so deeply focused on the Jihad, (the eternal effort, the struggle to win the fight for the Muslim cause) a group where the human bond of faith is greater than all other bonds. The bond of family, the bond of country, the bond of friendship, all can be put aside for this larger, all consuming, coming together of ancient scripture to provide the missing structure to ones life which leaves the humdrum modern lifestyle a very poor second.
No wonder the detached, disenfranchised youth (a youth we have cranked up with a sense of their own importance) fall under the spell of the Mullah with his repetition of the old old stories that speak to the faithful like "manna from heaven".
If the bond he feels for other Muslims (a religious bond like no other, promulgated by prayer and ritual in the Mosque) for the ones hurting in Palestine and Iraq and the well publicised West's involvement in both, then their resentment towards the West knows no bounds since the harm is seen as towards that of a brother or sister.
It's the millennium old problem, when Politics clashes with tradition, tribal affiliation and faith, especially when the poorly conceived political policies are driven by market economics, the instability left behind is a breeding ground for resentment. This resentment, funnelled by religious ideology can capture adherents even within ones own cosy environment at home. People who feel their true allegiance is not fulfilled within 'multiculturalism', with is many divergent standards but rather needs to align with something they feel is more substantial such as the local Mosque, and the focus and support of the congregation to make sense of a fundamentally corrupted world. Perhaps sadly, by introducing another corruption !!!
In Ataturk's secular domination of Turkey he saw a threat in the power of the Muslim religion and, in effect banned all outward manifestations of the religion knowing that these outward symbols were powerful in uniting the faith. His prohibition has been derided by many in the western world for with-holding from society, part of its cultural heritage, part of its cultural wholeness but this democratic persuasion to allow all views and social structures the space to foster their opinion is not reciprocated and would not be allowed if the boot were on the other foot.
The Saudi Arabian state is one example where tolerance is not valued and religious Shari law brooks no divergence from theocratic values.
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