some guy in lebanon

There was an interesting comment by the King in the paper the other day after a few tabloids here in Amman ran the Muhammad (pbuh) cartoons. It went something like this: “We will not allow these people to abuse free speech in order to defame Muhammad or any prophet or any religion.” I found that comment quite striking – it really outlines the problem between cultures. In America, we are very particular about our freedom of speech, aren’t we? And we usually extend that to EVERTYHING, but here, this is not the case. There are certain conversations that are “sacred.” Religion is one of them. That said, we should not forget what happened to the Dixie Chicks after they defamed Bush (CD burning in the street) or the many abortion clinics that have been blown up in the name of religion.

Two notes: One, in Jordan, I have not heard ONE word that positively backs these “protesters,” and there’s been one “demonstration,” of about 20 people. You can get more of a demonstration than that in Idaho if you make fun of a cow.

Two, I have discovered the absolute truth: There is no clash of civilizations. It’s just a clash of classes, like there always have been, and there always will be. Religion is just a polite way to paint over the fact that in this region, and pretty much the whole world, religion is identifiable with being poor, whereas being secular or Christian is identifiable with being rich. That’s it. End of story. I have come further to realize that the French riots were race and class riots. September 11th was a disgusting and ridiculous assault of the have’s by the have not’s. USS Cole. Aqaba. Even the Olympics and the FBI bombings in Oklahoma City. It’s just rich people pushing poor people to the limit. You want your Clash? Ask Osama bin Laden. You want a good outline of what’s really going on here? Go read Marx. But I’m not defending Marx, nor the Reds. There is absolutely no system that can be emplaced that helps all people at all times. Even Jesus said there will always be poor people. The best we can hope for is established religions and private NGO’s that go out of their way to help the poor. As long as secular governments get involved, there will continue to be an “East vs. West” rhetorical war of words, when in fact the real war is clearly between North and South (and I’m talking about hemispheres, not the Confederacy, people). This is the truth. More to the point, I bet you Clash of Civilizations is Osama bin Laden’s favorite book. Bet he’s got a signed copy.

Moving on – “40 days with the Arabs and you’ll be one of us.” This is a saying they have here, and I’m certainly convinced, after just two and a half weeks. But there’s a lot of problems with this. Even as the Arabs are gracious hosts, generous with everything they own, ascribe to a family structured society that is designed specifically to help the public at large, and basically wonderful people, they’re also judgmental and highly class-ist and can often be excruciatingly ignorant. I think this is a serious problem, and I believe that after 40 days, I will have to take stock of myself and make sure that I have only inherited the good traits of these people, and leave the rest for the desert.

PS, it’s supposed to snow here tomorrow. What the heck? Lawrence of Arabia! This is supposed to be a desert!! Ah well. At least gas here only costs 70 cents a gallon…

Take care all,
WD