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| Arabia |
| The World's Most Toxic Value System |
| 2007-12-29 |
| The thar [Arabic for •Extreme importance of personal status and sensitivity to insult •Acceptance of personal revenge including retaliatory killing •Obsessive male dominance •Paranoia over female sexual infidelity •Primacy of family rights over individual rights Nothing better illustrates the thar mentality better than the fury directed by Islamic militants against Danish and Norwegian cartoons of Mohammed. Sacrilegious art in other cultures can offend and get people angry but the lunatic response of radical Islamists is in a class by itself. It's the shrieking, out of control petulance of a three-year old throwing a tantrum. People infected with this attitude will be utterly incapable of recognizing wrongdoing by their own society, utterly incapable of taking criticism or recognizing the need for correction. This is remarkably close to the image of Hell painted by C. S. Lewis in his books Perelandra and The Screwtape Letters: a paralyzing self-absorption that imprisons the individual in hate and impotent rage while simultaneously blinding him to any possibility of escape. |
| Posted by:KBK |
| #4 |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-12-29 10:30 |
| #3 People who think the collapse of technological society would be a good thing because it would bring us closer to the earth and create closer-knit societies are in for a rude shock Word. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2007-12-29 07:57 |
| #2 Peters' symptoms of societal weakness carry some warnings for our own future. The rise of restrictive religion in America is sobering I sigh and shake my head. This was a brilliant and highly informative piece. However this fool [not Peter's but Steven Dutch] failed to realize the role that Christianity has played in diminishing the Thar impulse in those who are not endowed with a sense of entitlement by their family or society. It is Christianity that taught the poor to read and to mute the human impulses that he so carefully categorized. Restrictive religion is bad, yes. We all know that. Many Christians are flawed individuals. In fact all of them are. That is the absolute basis of the religion: we are, as humans are flawed individuals who need to reach within and restrict the Thar impulses he so carefully outlines. Clearly, Christianity is not the only means to restrict these impulses and tend towards a better society. He notes other non-Christian societies such as Japan that have done so. But for him not to note the role that Christianity has played makes him look just silly. |
| Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 2007-12-29 06:03 |
| #1 People infected with this attitude will be utterly incapable of recognizing wrongdoing by their own society, utterly incapable of taking criticism or recognizing the need for correction. Not good for a long term future is it? I read Wretchard's 'Fourth Conjecture' yesterday, along with all the comments. Interesting, and chilling. Unless these people get their act together - soon, they are looking at a world of hurt. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2007-12-29 04:24 |