I've always found it odd that the religious fundamentalists here at home and the religious fundamentalists in the Middle East had so much in common -- religious influence over the state, scriptural basis for legislation, repressive views of women's rights, outright condemnation of homosexuality, etc. etc. -- and yet continued to see each other as mortal enemies. Obviously, the biggest issue to them is the brand of fundamentalism they each advance, but once you get past that oh-so-minor detail of whether the One True God is Jesus Christ or Allah, well, the worldviews look quite similar.
In fact, when you get right down to it, the disagreement between Christian fundamentalists and Islamic fundamentalists is about as wide as the one between rednecks who consider themselves bitterly divided over their tribal loyalties to Ford or Chevy trucks. Just like both sides in the fundamentalist debate are positive that God is on their side, both camps in the Great Truck-Off believe that the urinating Calvin sticker is on their side too.
Lately, though, the similarities between Christian and Islamic fundies are getting too numerous to count. Here's the latest from Iran. You can practically hear Falwell and Robertson applauding:
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Tuesday for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities ....Given the fundamentalist regime's history of cracking down on liberal and secular voices since 1979, this is about as surprising as the Crocodile Hunter's recent death by animal attack. But our friends on the right like to think that All Things Bad are diametrically opposed to what they believe in, so I'm sure this news will make some of their heads explode.
"Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with a group of students. Ahmadinejad complained that changes in the country's universities were difficult to accomplish and that the country's educational system had been affected by secularism for the last 150 years, but said "such a change has begun."
Earlier this year, Iran retired dozens of liberal university professors and teachers. And last November, Ahmadinejad's administration for the first time named a cleric to head the country's oldest university in Tehran amid protests by students over the appointment.
But here's the clincher:
The developments followed a campaign promise by Ahmadinejad for a more Islamic-oriented country. He took office last August.Hmmm. Stocking the government with inexperienced religious hard-liners? Don't look now, Saudi princelings, but George Bush may just have a new hand-holding bestest buddy.
Since then, Ahmadinejad also has been replacing pragmatic veterans in the government with former military commanders and inexperienced religious hard-liners.
8 comments:
Yup. Heard about that on NPR in the car this morning, and all I could think about is the Republican cries of "liberal professors" and Bush's purging of actual career scientists and scholars with religious flacks.
When is that Ahmadinejad-Bush debate on tv?
Are we gonna hear, Heckuva job, Ali, after one of Tehran's frequent earthquakes?
Mike, the Sadly No! boys beat you to the punch with that one:
Ah, I can see it now: “Al-Brownie, you did a heckuva job helpin’ folks after that earthquake.”
I also heard this snippet this morning on NPR and immediately drew the parallel.
I have really struggled to find a way to explain to some of my more religious-minded friends why religion as a personal measuring device is one thing, but it takes on a whole twisted appearance when it moves away from the personal and into the sanctioned-by-Government. It is really tough to get them to see why God involved in our lives is ever a bad thing.
So, I have tried pointing-out some of the similarities between hard-line Muslim countries with extremely fundamental Christian views, and where those parallels have gone awry in Muslim countries. These arguments have failed miserably along the "yeah, but that's Islam, not Jesus" lines.
The only argument thus far that I have seen work is arguing that religion as your personal measuring tape is fine; we all interject our beliefs into what we do. Even our politicans can justify feeling guided by their personal belief system - it is very hard nay impossible to separate a secular decision from being influenced by my personal tastes. I hate canned tuna, and I always will and would never vote for canned tuna anything.
But where it is not fine is where you declare that God "told" you to vote or act a certain way. To do so is to claim to be an instrument of God and that God has chosen to exact his will specifically through you. 1) Why you? 2) Why you when he obviously told someone else to act completely differently?
This seems to resonate, but even then, it still turns into "yeah, but that's Islam and not Jesus."
Glad to know you're trying, Smitty. You might point out that if the people demand some show of religiosity from politicians, they're just begging to be lied to.
Ah, I can see it now: “Al-Brownie, you did a heckuva job helpin’ folks after that earthquake.”
When did they say this? Lemme at em, lemme at em!
Great set of parallels, O.M.
Smitty, you might want to remind your fundamentalist friends that when religion gets in bed with government, it takes two to screw, after which both end up having been screwed.
That's to say that it's not unheard of in history for religious types to get mixed up with government intending to control, only to wind up being co-opted and maybe even controlled.
First On Race Day, baby! Chevy sucks!!
Great post. The great thing about the Iranian dude is he's a tour-de-force of rightwing nonsense; you don't have to wait for O'Reilly or Hannity to tell you that whatever bland nonsense the prez says actually means it's time to purge moderates and competent folks. This guy goes full-on Limbaugh from his presidential bully pulpit. Saves so much time.
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