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Cultural Revolution

Reader comment on item: Praising Military Slavery

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), May 22, 2010 at 09:35

The Muslim world, like much of the rest of the world, has tried the militant secularism of the post-Enlightenment age, and found it wanting. Marx accused the culture of enlightenment liberalism of destroying community, and used this destruction of community as part of his justification for further revolution. Marx's own experiment in "community organization" (?) itself has been a dismal failure. In the wake of the May 4th movement of 1919, many conservative Chinese complained that the modern West has taught the youth of China to misbehave rather than to behave. Perhaps much of the appeal of Communism in interwar and postwar China came from its promise to restore order and settle the seething political questioning that wracked China with civil war. It seems to me that much of the Arab and Muslim world has found that the promises made by secular nationalism, democracy, and socialism have not paid out, either. Ataturk's revolution was harsh, and his regime all but completed the work of Abdelhamet in ridding Turkey of non-Muslim minorities, as well as training the Turks to accept "modern" military dictatorship. The Ba'ath movement in the Arab world has also been far from a rebirth.

I thoroughly agree with Dr. Pipes that the Mamluk institution was a bad one, and that Egypt should have learned an important lesson when Napoleon's army butchered the Mamluk's in battle. However, with the "post-modern" ferment going on in the world today, we cannot blame Egyptians or other Muslims for re-examining their histories for a useable past--even if they make mistakes (which, I believe, they are maaking).

Submitting....

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Reader comments (16) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Breeding. [49 words]AlbertE.Sep 3, 2019 23:54253874
Slave. [60 words]AlbertE.Sep 3, 2019 23:30253873
Why are we not surprised? [20 words]Barry GoldbergMay 30, 2010 20:05173558
Mr. Darwish and your conference [83 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Edith M. CordMay 30, 2010 11:25173537
... clash of civilizations [57 words]aspaciaMay 30, 2010 09:30173529
Question for Daniel [6 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JimMay 30, 2010 08:04173526
Cultural Revolution [263 words]Peter HerzMay 22, 2010 09:35173223
Slavery of Any Sort is an Agency of the Adversary [691 words]M. ToveyMay 21, 2010 13:22173203
Weapons. [45 words]AlbertE.Sep 4, 2019 00:01173203
Again: Context Shredding to Make A False Argument [29 words]M ToveySep 4, 2019 13:13173203
outcome? [21 words]David LMay 21, 2010 11:53173199
Unfortunately, an action far too common amongst Muslims today [88 words]Seamus Dafydd Dives MacNemiMay 21, 2010 09:25173196
2islam is slavery ! [147 words]Phil GreendMay 20, 2010 23:36173177
Diplomat [13 words]Mark DMay 20, 2010 23:07173175
Question [28 words]Mark D.May 20, 2010 20:47173166
Right [82 words]Mark D.May 20, 2010 20:45173165

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