Humiliation and the Ultimate Altar Call

In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman contrasts the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall on 11/9/1989 One action was motivated by the fear of change and the other was motivated by the pursuit of change. Friedman makes the point that those responsible for 9/11 and the ongoing acts of terror around the world tap into a prevailing sense of humiliation in young Muslim men that is so strong that these young men are willing to become suicide bombers. This humiliation is fueled by the feelings of frustration and powerlessness that comes with the reality that 26% of unemployed men around the world between the ages of fifteen to twenty-four are in the Middle East and North Africa. There is little hope for improvement when the geo-political climate in this region is not conducive to the investment necessary to create new industry and jobs.

Friedman writes, "When you take the economic and political backwardness of much of the Arab-Muslim world today, add its past grandeur and self-image of religious superiority, and combine it with the discrimination and alienation these Arab-Muslim males face when they leave home and move to Europe, or when they grow up in Europe, you have one powerful cocktail of rage" (p. 400).

This connection with religious affiliation and humiliation struck a chord with me. Being an educated white male in America has spared me from the levels of humiliation that many people experience every day. However, I have very strong memories of humiliating experiences during the worship services of my youth. Memories of being held hostage by preachers who gave fire and brimstone sermons, then made the congregation stand through multiple verses of "Just As I Am" until one or more persons became so burdened with guilt and fear that they would step out of the pew and kneel at the altar in a catharsis of body sobs and tears in front of the whole congregation. It was access to education that empowered me to visualize and create a different reality for myself.

It seems to me that the final journey of the suicide bomber is the ultimate trip to the altar and the ultimate humiliation of an individual who is not able to visualize and create a different reality. It also seems to me that one factor that resists or prevents the visualization of a different reality is the self-image of religious superiority that Friedman mentions. The humiliated person takes comfort in the humiliation, interprets it as a trial through which they have successfully passed and now will reap the rewards of having submitted themselves to the humiliating experience. I well remember the smug feeling of knowing that I had been "born again" and being truly saved when so many other so-called Christians were only fooling themselves because theirs was an easy faith that did not require such public humiliation.

I am struck by the difference in the words "humbleness", defined as "marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful" and "humiliation", defined as "an instance in which you are caused to lose your prestige or self-respect". It seems to me that true religion should be about the former rather than the latter. Humbleness is motivated by the power of 11/9 and humiliation is used by those motivated by the power of 9/11.

Fear leads us to build up walls to divide us. Humbleness enables us to tear down the walls so that fear no longer has a place to hide.

The Flat World and Scriptural Reasoning

In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman writes about the importance of culture as a factor in helping people adapt to the powerful changes taking place in the world. He asks why does one country adapt to the changes with leaders able to mobilize the bureaucracy and the public and another country gets tripped up. (p. 323). Friedman then emphasizes two aspects of culture as relevant in the flat world. One is the outward nature of the culture, i.e., how open is the culture to foreign influences and ideas? The other aspect is the inward nature of the culture, i.e., “to what degree is there trust within the society for strangers to collaborate together” (p. 324). Friedman uses the word “glocalize” to describe the process by which a society develops these outward and inward aspects of culture.

Friedman then goes on to write that many Muslim countries are struggling with the flat world:

“In a world where the single greatest advantage a culture can have is the ability to foster adaptability and adoptability, the Muslim world today is dominated by a religious clergy that literally bans ijtihad, reinterpretation of the principles of Islam in light of current circumstances” (p. 326).

The notion of reinterpretation implies that a previous interpretation has become unquestionable dogma. What does this say about the original sacred text of the Koran? Does it not imply that in and of itself the Koran is an insufficient guide for humanity so that an interpretation is necessary, an interpretation to tell us what the Koran really means? The same is true for the Bible and the Torah. Such a situation devalues the authority of the sacred text and emphasizes the authority of the interpreter. Such a power structure naturally discourages critical thinking, individual information seeking and knowledge production. Such a power structure can only survive on the fear it is able to generate in the hearts of the people who would consider to dissent and think for themselves.

Friedman then writes, “One of the greatest virtues a country or community can have is a culture of tolerance. When tolerance is the norm, everyone flourishes because tolerance breeds trust … Increase the level of trust in any group, company, or society, and only good things happen” (p. 327).

We know that a lack of tolerance and trust are attributes that Christians and Jews share with Muslims. Fear is the basis of religion. Thankfully, there is a voice of good news with the message “Fear not.”

I have a link on this blog to The Children of Abraham Institute, which I stumbled across recently. I encourage you check out this organization. Their purpose is to bring together scholars from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths to build upon the common ground of each descending from Abraham through the practice of Scriptural Reasoning. The ground rules are, one, that each tradition has sacred texts, which record God’s conversation with humanity and humanity’s conversation about God. Two, the purpose of God’s conversation with humanity is for healing. I wish this organization every success and I hope to attend one of their conferences sometime in the near future.