"Qutb’s strong conviction that Islam was superior to all other systems was made clear in his work Social Justice in Islam, which was written prior to his trip. Nevertheless, many scholars believe that it was during his trip to the United States that Qutb became convinced of the West’s spiritual and moral bankruptcy. In "The America I Have Seen," a personal account of his experiences in United States, Qutb expresses his admiration for the great economic and scientific achievements of America, yet he is deeply dismayed that such prosperity could exist in a society that remained "abysmally primitive in the world of the senses, feelings, and behavior."
I was watching TV the other day and just half paying attention when I heard some things that caught my ear. I did not know at the time that I was listening to the words of a man whose writings have become the theoretical basis for many radical Islamic groups today. In the program he was a man who longed for conversations that went beyon new cars and clothes.
NpR's Robert Siegel said that much of Qutb's criticism may have been the product of a clash of two very different cultures. "The way Qutb saw America was sharply at odds with the way Americans saw themselves," Siegel says.
This excerpt from an artical by Robert Siegel shows us the perspective on america from an outsider around 1948.
"When it came to culture, Qutb denounced the primitive jazz music and loud clothing, the obsession with body image and perfection, and the bald sexuality. The American female was naturally a temptress, acting her part in a sexual system Qutb described as "biological":
"The American girl is well acquainted with her body's seductive capacity. She knows it lies in the face, and in expressive eyes, and thirsty lips. She knows seductiveness lies in the round breasts, the full buttocks, and in the shapely thighs, sleek legs -- and she shows all this and does not hide it." Even an innocent dance in a church basement is proof of animalistic American sexuality:
"They danced to the tunes of the gramophone, and the dance floor was replete with tapping feet, enticing legs, arms wrapped around waists, lips pressed to lips, and chests pressed to chests. The atmosphere was full of desire..." To Qutb, women were vixens, and men were sports-obsessed brutes: "This primitiveness can be seen in the spectacle of the fans as they follow a game of football... or watch boxing matches or bloody, monstrous wrestling matches... This spectacle leaves no room for doubt as to the primitiveness of the feelings of those who are enamored with muscular strength and desire it."
There are alot of things in this article that make me think. How do I view my system as superior. A definition of westernization really makes me think. According to Conrad Phillip, the westerners "will attempt to remake the native culture within their own image, ignoring the fact that the models of culture that they have created are inappropriate for settings outside of western civilization" (Phillip, Conrad. (2005). Window on Humanity. New York: McGraw-Hill).
(wikepedia)
I look at my life in Paris TX and I see culures colliding here. People who see their knowledge as superior. Their knowledge of good and evil as superior. This is why I call the blog BAD APPLES. The knowledge of good and evil hasn't worked out to good. Remeber the garden of eden. But we are in the middle of it! How can I even see out!
Peter Hiett, in his book Dance Lessons for Zombies, says that we have traded what is good for the knowledge of what is good. This guy Qutb "lamented to his readers that he was never able to find a woman of sufficient "moral purity and discretion" and had to reconcile himself to bachelorhood." He had knowledge of what was good, but no wife. Think about that.
end.
For more info youcan check out PBS "America at the Crossroads" or look sayyid Qutb up on Wikepedia or listen to Robert Siegel on NPR's website.
My buddy Zane and his Dad Eddie gave me some good advice yesterday. "Try to understand what CAN BE understood and seek to understand and not just be understood." Both of these may be my biggest obstacles.
