Egyptian Coptic Christian attempts to clean up after his church was attacked.

An excellent article by Rogers Emerson that has been published at Front Page Magazine. When you read this I hope you will be able to see as I do that the main reason why Arab countries are in such dire economic, political and social shape, is not down to the sort of bogeymen that the Left point to such as, imperialism, but Islam itself.

It is because Islam is the foundational and governing ideology of many of these Arab countries that they are in such dire straits. It is Islam for example that is behind why Arab, and other Islamic countries I might add, have poor female literacy rates. Yes this article can be criticised somewhat for not flagging up Islam itself as being the prime reason for the tragedy of the Arabs, but it doesn’t take a great leap to see that those countries where Islam rules are places of oppression, violence and under-achievement.

Rogers Emerson said:

“I am not convinced that any Arab thinker or writer – past or present – could honestly make sense of the disaster that is playing out in the Middle East today. I include such eminent men of letters and historians as Albert Hourani, Fouad Ajami (rest in peace) or even Edward Said, who no doubt would be tossing out the same old excuses about Western imperialism.

You can try to blame the West, Israel, Bernard Lewis, George W. Bush or Obama. But in fact the mess belongs mostly and squarely on the shoulders of an anti-modern, tribalist and sectarian mentality that continue to roil the region in cruelty and violence. The dominant religion and its more extreme faithful followers are trapped in in a world view that remains Medieval and frightening.

From Syria, to Egypt, to Iraq – the recipe for rule is tyranny and the answer to every difficult problem is violence.

I write this sadly, reluctantly, as someone who has lived in the region and who has had friends there and has seen the struggles firsthand of well-meaning and enlightened people. But what is unfolding today is not new to the region – read the Struggle for Syria by Patrick Seale or Hanna Batatu’s massive study on the political culture of Iraq.

It is convenient in some circles to blame the post-World War I partition of the region for the problems. But nearly a century later this feels like just another excuse for avoiding accountability and responsibility. Yes, bad line drawing and imposed regimes can wreak havoc on a culture for a time, but the underlying problem – the inability or unwillingness to live with neighbors, whether states or individuals – is a recipe for tension and violence in any culture or society.”

Read the rest of this excellent piece here: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/rogers-emerson/the-tragedy-of-the-arabs/

If Islam ruled the world, the whole world would look like these violent, basket-case Arab nations. Scary thought isn’t it?