Response to Probityrules comments

Submitted by Philip (United Kingdom), Mar 9, 2016 at 04:39

firstly, probityrules, thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to respond to me at such length and with much wisdom. I do appreciate this. I shall in turn respond point by point.

1. Muslims protesting extremism. Yes I am aware of Muslim writers, film makers etc. esp. women defending moderation in Islam. I applaud their considerable courage. However I was thinking more along the lines of mass demonstrations such as the Occupy movements in the US for example. Something visibly saying 'No' to the extremists. This simply is not happening anywhere. I am not sure whether passivity or fear of extremist reaction is a reason for the lack of open mass protest.
When Muslim leaders speak out as Sisi has done as some imams do, I wonder what is their particular agenda. Nothing about the ME and Islam is agenda-free. Are the imams moderate speaking out against extremism or for example Shia imams speaking out against Sunni extremism, or Sufis speaking out against Sunni and Shia. Such complexities... I would agree that there are trends within Islam to reform. I was watching The Reluctant Fundamentalist recently on the BBC and was surprised by the quality of Pakistani Sufi music in the film. Pakistanis have musical tradition, as do Ottoman/Modern Turkish Sunnis and Lebanese/Egyptian Muslims. Yet the spread of Wahhabi Sunni Islam would prohibit this. Much Greek music derives from Ottoman Turkish. I grew up with it. So more complexity and intra--Muslim conflict.
2. Taquiyya. I did actually mean Asia. The Chinese are as skilled at deception as Muslims. (ref; 100 year Marathon by Michael Pillsbury, a genuine Mandarin speaking China specialist). East, Central and West Asia have a great deal in common. These skills are ancient, deeply cultural, and regarded as part of normal relations and communications as a kind of multi-dimensional chess game. In order to handle/manage taquiyya one might begin by teaching Western children to play chess as part of basic education. Eurasia does... Its not only about 'being clever', its about 'strategem'. Sun Tzu and Ghingis Khan were chess masters geopolitically speaking...
3. I agree. Britz Pt 1 much better than pt2. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an excellent study of cultural expectations and realities. I enjoyed the movie will read the book soon.
4. From the European perspective after 2 WWs and 30 years of Nightmare followed by CW, we are suffering from Continent wide PTSD. Loss of religious values (only 6% Brits say they're Christian; about same as Muslims). Yet we're letting Muslim refugees in at an unsustainable rate. If Turkey were EU member it would be catastrophic... They want Europe, have done since 8thC. Yes they'll wait to get it another 2-3 gens. In meantime yes Sunni/Shia Conflict is Millennial. Its unimaginably huge. Within that: conflicts over every aspect of Islam are developing within the 1.8 billion membership. The West are bystanders. But Islam is becoming stronger with these conflicts. The West is becoming weaker, rolling over. How many Jihadis per 1000 refugees? impossible to police or regulate. You in N. America at least have 2 vast oceans to protect you. Europe is right on the frontier. And disintegrating fast. God help us. Thanks.

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