“Given that one of the objectives that led to 9/11 was Al-Qaeda’s desire to prompt a Clash of Civilizations between the West and Islam, is this evidence that the terrorists are winning?”
I recently had a conversation with a friend , he thought we would probably see a major world war in our lifetime, and it wouldn’t be between countries as such but between religions/civilizations , given the mixed religious makeup of most countries nowadays it probably meant civil wars within , and more interesting was the idea of what could be the cause ? Well , the fact that people in other parts of the world resent the idea of western dominance and the idea that the western way is only way ( yes maybe but may be not, I’m eastern..and I’m in the US right now!!) , anyway it was an interesting concept.
Thanks to the SM post I looked up the Clash of Civilizations theory, while I don’t believe it, and surely don’t want it to happen i.e. the fact that for some people religion may be more important than country , (but who says country is most important?? Shouldn’t it be world or universe ??) .I appreciate however that the theory looks into the reasons such jingoistic religious feelings may exist , we should at least try to understand where such feelings (if any)come from….
From the wiki on clash of civilizations
In his book Terror and Liberalism, Paul Berman proposes another criticism of the civilization clash hypothesis. According to Berman, distinct cultural boundaries do not exist in the present day. He argues there is no "Islamic civilization" nor a "Western civilization", and that the evidence for a civilization clash is not convincing, especially when considering relationships such as that between the United States and Saudi Arabia. In addition, he cites the fact that many Islamic extremists spent a significant amount of time living and/or studying in the western world. According to Berman conflict arises because of philosophical beliefs between groups, regardless of cultural or religious identity.
It has been claimed that values are more easily transmitted and altered than Huntington proposes. Nations such as India and Japan have become successful democracies, and the West itself was rife with despotism and fundamentalism for most of its history. Some also see Huntington's thesis as creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and reasserting differences between civilizations.[citation needed] Edward Said issued a response to Huntington's thesis in his own essay entitled "The Clash of Ignorance." Said argues that Huntington's categorization of the world's fixed "civilizations" omits the dynamic interdependency and interaction of culture. According to Said, it is an example of an imagined geography, where the presentation of the world in a certain way legitimates certain politics.
Another question , so yeah the western world may have committed intrusions in the Middle east , but why are they attacking India ?? I haven’t been keeping track but I know of the bombings in Mumbai , (the wars with Pakistan are territorial disputes)..and India has been attacked by non muslim terrorists as well……
Any attack is bad ,sad as they are in some cases we have to admit they were probably retaliatory Mumbai Blasts of ’93 -> attributed as response to the Babri Masjid demolition ; the Mumbai Train Bombings ->possibly in response to Gujarat violence (Godhra)
I’m a practicing Hindu, and I find all the previously mentioned acts of terror horrifying. ( I wont try to call myself a liberal hindu, there is no such thing as a radical hindu,it goes against the very essence of our religion, if you find your self getting riled up , read what God says and take a chill pill, we are supposed to be the most chilled out people on the planet, and that isn’t a bad thing , no I don't think we run the danger of being wiped out of the face of the earth!! I'm not saying that we are the only ones doing wrong and everyone else is innocent, but i don't think the religious twist everything is taking nowadays is helping,especially when what we see around are the most irreligious of acts!).
Like I learn at Gita class...we are in Kaliyug... in the face of the evil around just chant the name of the lord, remember him/her ,have faith and he/she will save you.
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