The recent massacre in Norway with its “Islamophobic” undertones, no less than the approaching anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, once more breathes life into the whole “clash of civilizations” paradigm. Historical antagonisms notwithstanding, I do not believe that Islam and the West are intrinsically at odds in much the same manner as I do not believe evolutionary biology is intrinsically at odds with Christianity. (There’s nothing in paleontology and genetics, for example that contradicts anything said in the Nicene Creed). Our respective cultures, Islam and the West, are the inheritors of the civilizations of antiquity, which is why Plato and Aristotle influenced the early theologies of both Islam and Christianity. Our respective religions are based upon the revelations and worship of the same God. Our medieval periods – contrary to the popular culture’s misconception- produced exceptional scientific minds. Indeed, Ibn Sina, Al-Razi, and Al-Biruni were every bit as noteworthy as Kepler, Bacon, and Copernicus although the former are probably better known to most Moslems than the latter are to most Americans.
The clash in the 21st Century is not between civilizations. It’s within civilizations. Islam is struggling to create its own Renaissance, its own Reformation; to create a theology that’s not some monolithic absolute but a natural selection process in the evolution of humanity’s understanding of Allah. The problem is that maniacs with bombs and box cutters grab headlines and theologians, historians, philosophers, and scientists don’t. The West is struggling between the cultural edifice and historical archetype that bequeathed the word Shakespeare, Mozart, and Bishop Sheen and the one that puked out Britney Spears, Wal-Mart, and Charlie Sheen; between the Western society that gave the world scientists, saints, and scholars and the Western society that gave the world a dumbed-down, hyped-up, pornographic, cruel, stupid, intoxicated popular culture.
The mass murderer in Norway believed he was igniting some kind of Christian crusade against Moslems in Europe and the “Islamization” of Norway. But like most of Western Europe, Norway is not a Christian nation. I’m not knocking Norway. We need only gaze at America’s poverty, homelessness, illiteracy, joblessness, violent crime, predatory business practices, governmental corruption, and ethnic strife to see that the land of Harold has been more successful in creating a modern, stable, prosperous middle class society. Until the massacre, Norway was the American Dream in a way that America is no longer. And it is with all due respect to the Lutheran Church that I say that Norway is not a Christian nation because opinion polls – no less than the secular nature of all Norwegian institutions outside the Lutheran Church – suggest a largely agnostic or atheistic society fully dedicated to hedonistic materialism. Norway is essentially Huxley’s Brave New World without the bioengineering, something ostensibly workable because it has fewer people than New York City and no vast gulfs in income and ethnic composition. Problem with that is that they have done little to pass these blessings on to the future. Norwegians have free health care, six weeks paid vacation time, and decent public transport. They’re just not having children. Rock stars mean more to them than the Norse legends, Viking sagas, the poetry of Bjornson, heroism of Todenskjold, stave churches, and Haakon Hall.
If one murderer has shattered Norway’s image as a land of gentle people, America’s image of the American Dream has likewise sunk. Even here in Levittown, once the epitome of the American Dream, we have bankruptcies, debt, foreclosures, unemployment, and homelessness. (For those who’ll park the SUV, get out of the mall, look away from the TV, and log off of Facebook long enough to notice).
The “Islamophobe’s” argument shouldn’t be with Islam and Moslem people but with his own society. Moslem’s lives are centered on faith, family, community, and their civilization’s past achievements. American’s lives are centered on professional sports, worshiping dysfunctional celebrities, gadgets, new cars, vacations, and shopping in the mall. The Moslem youth with whom I’ve worked are interested in science and history; the boys dress conservatively and the girls are modestly attired. The non-Moslem teenagers I see at 11 p.m. hanging out drinking beer in the car lot by my home talk and dress like street thugs and $5 hookers. Moslems have the values that Christians in America (and Norway) used to have but don’t any longer. Restoring those values is the real crusade, the real jihad for which both Christians and Moslems need to work together because, in the final analysis, they are not exclusively Christian or Moslem values but the universal values of civilized peoples everywhere.
Paul Manton
Levittown resident
