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April 30, 2006
petrodollars at work?
I'm suffering from a serious time crunch, and I won't have time for writing until much later in the day. I did find an interesting piece from the Washington Post which may shed some light on a serious error in logic committed by many Americans -- that Shia Islam is "radical" and Wahhabi Islam is "moderate." This took form over many years in response to problems which both countries had with Iran. The Saudis' interest in promoting Wahhabism and the Americans' interest in easy answers (i.e. "our enemy is radical; our ally is moderate") led to a collusion of convenience. In the United States, Saudi Arabia's infrastructure of preachers and money started as a bulwark against the spread into American mosques of radical Shiism, which surged after Khomeini deposed the shah of Iran.Without getting into how the Saudis got their money, there was a price to be paid for this American "comfort." It isn't comfortable any more. Considering the demise of the American melting pot in favor of multiculturalism, Saudi religious hegemony has grown and grown (metastasized is a better word): Scholars of Islam find it difficult to precisely assess the impact of 40 years of Saudi missionary work on the United States' multi-ethnic Muslim community -- estimated at 6 million to 7 million. But survey data are suggestive.What that means is that Muslim immigrants to the United States are likely to find themselves converted to the Wahhabist ideology. (In many cases with American taxpayer support.) It's a complex issue, and I wish I had more time. But I am running very late. AFTERTHOUGHT: Blogging demands posts. Posts demand thought. Thought demands time. (I'm afraid it's a serious conflict without any hope of resolution. If I'm lucky I'll have time for a "throwaway post" later . . .) posted by Eric on 04.30.06 at 08:28 AM
Comments
Shi'ism is too broad to be entirely painted as "radical" or "moderate." Wahhabism however, is exclusive to Saudi Arabia and promotes theocracy. Adam · April 30, 2006 08:19 PM |
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Reading blogs requires time too. And I often feel duty bound to read your posts. So don't feel bad about doing short and sweet ones:)